Seven-year-old girl was raped by an adult relative in Yangikurgan district of Namangan province. According to available information, B.S., 38, attended a wedding at his uncle's house, Zh.M., on October 14. During the celebration, he tooj his uncle's granddaughter, I.K., 7, to a secluded location, whre he raped her and fled the scene.
The girl is now in the intensive care unit of a children's hospital following the incident.
The man was arrested after two days of search. On October 16, the Yangikurgan district criminal court ordered his pretrial detention. A criminal case has been opened under Part 4 of Article 118 of the Criminal Code (Rape of a person under 14 years of age / punishable by 15 to 20 years in prison), with investigation underway.
The man had previously been convicted of similar crimes. In 2014, the Namangan city criminal court convicted him under Part 1 of Article 112 (Threat of murder or violence), the clauses "a," "b," and "c" of Part 2 of Article 119 (Unnatural sexual gratification with violence, threats, or exploiting the victim's helplessness), and the clause "b" of Part 2 of Article 277 (Hooliganism committed by a group of persons) of the Criminal Code.
In 2015, the Akhangaran district criminal court commuted the remaining sentence—3 years, 1 month, and 6 days of imprisonment—to correctional labor for the same term.
In 2020, the Namangan district criminal court found B.S. guilty under the clause "b" of Part 3 of Article 118 of the Criminal Code (Rape of a close relative) and sentenced him to 10 years and 2 months in prison.
In 2025, the Chirchik city criminal court commuted the remaining sentence—5 years and 1 day of imprisonment—to correctional labor for the same term.
It should be noted that, according to the Criminal Code, commutation of the unserved portion of a sentence to a more lenient punishment does not apply to rape, forcible sexual intercourse in a perverted manner against a victim under 18, coercion of a person under 18 to engage in sexual intercourse involving sexual intercourse or sexual intercourse in an unnatural manner, sexual intercourse or sexual intercourse in an unnatural manner with a person under 16, or committing indecent acts against such a person.
Social media users expressed outrage that the convicted man was released from prison without serving his sentence for the rape of a close relative.
The Supreme Court explained that this occurred based on the February 19, 2025 ruling of the Chirchik city criminal court, which granted the convicted person's appeal and commuted the remaining portion of his sentence (5 years and 1 day of imprisonment) to correctional labor for the same period.
This ruling was made in accordline with the clause "c" of Part 3 of Article 74 of the Criminal Code as amended in 2001, which was in effect at the time of the sentence.
Prior to the amendments introduced by the law of March 23, 2023, the law allowed for the commutation of the unserved portion of a sentence to a more lenient one after at least half of the sentence had been served for those convicted of particularly serious crimes, the statement stated.
However, the Supreme Court said that the new version of the law had tightened these conditions: now such a commutation is only possible after at least two-thirds of the sentence has been served. However, these changes do not apply to sentences that entered into force prior to the official publication of the new law, which is what was applied in the case of B.S.
Furthermore, the court added that, according to Part 5 of Article 74 of the Criminal Code, the replacement of the unserved portion of a sentence with a more lenient one does not apply to individuals specified in Part 4 of Article 73 of the Code (for example, repeat offenders and individuals who have committed particularly dangerous crimes).
