The Commissioner for Children's Rights in Uzbekistan, Surayo Rakhmonova, has commented on the video showing a boy chained and locked in a car in Samarkand. The victim, a 2011-born 6th-grade student at the military sports school "Kalkon-jasorat" in the Pakhtachinsky district of the Samarkand region, was asked by his guardians to be sent to a center for social and legal assistance due to his behavior. The incident occurred on March 15.
The guardians chained the boy inside the teacher's car to prevent him from escaping, according to the statement. The Samarkand Police Department has launched a criminal case under Article 138 of the Criminal Code (violent unlawful deprivation of liberty), and an investigation is ongoing.
The Children's Ombudsman has stated that measures are being taken to provide the boy with medical, psychological, and social assistance. Rakhmonova emphasized that regardless of a child's behavior, applying such inhumane and illegal measures is unacceptable and violates the child's right to freedom and privacy.
Abdurakhmon Tashanov, the head of the Uzbekistan Human Rights Society "Ezgulik," revealed that the boy was chained by a former law enforcement officer. Shakhnoza Mirziyoyeva, the First Deputy Director of the National Agency for Social Protection under the President, mentioned that the teenager is currently receiving necessary help from qualified psychologists.
The incident has highlighted the insufficiency of measures to combat violence against minors, according to Mirziyoyeva. The agency has taken control of the situation to ensure the teenager undergoes full rehabilitation, receives proper education, and lives in suitable conditions.
