Translated with AI
Abdullo Aslamov, a 46-year-old resident of the Vakhsh district born in 1978, has been detained in Dushanbe on suspicion of illegal religious instruction and the abuse of 13 minors, according to the Dushanbe Department of Internal Affairs.
According to police, the man rented a house on Ayni Street from a resident of the capital for 10,000 somoni and organized unofficial religious education there. The children were reportedly kept in a cramped, dark room, and the living conditions were unsanitary.
Law enforcement agencies claim that all the children showed signs of an infectious disease, scabies, which arose due to poor conditions.
"The children were deprived of walks and contact with their parents. Some of them hadn't seen their families for three to eight months," the statement said.
Abdullo Aslamov also reportedly has a secondary education and claims to have received religious knowledge from his brother. The Ministry of Internal Affairs added that he had a previous record of criminal prosecution: in 2014, while serving as imam-khatib of the Abu Bakr Siddik Mosque in the Vakhsh district, he was arrested for drug trafficking.
A criminal case has been opened against the suspect under Articles 117 ("Torture") and 164 ("Obstruction of Education") of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan. He has been taken into custody. Criminal cases have also been opened against nine of the children's parents. The investigation is ongoing.
