After 23-year-old Tajik soldier Shahboz Jonmakhmadzoda jumped into the river, the Ministry of Defense said that “the conditions of his stay in the military unit were good and he did not complain about his health.” The soldier’s uncle says that on the day of the incident he told his wife that he would be returning home. The soldier’s body has not yet been found, and the military prosecutor’s office is investigating the case.
Shahboz Jonmakhmadzoda, who served in one of the military units of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan, threw himself into the Kafarnikhon River in the city of Vakhdat on April 27. The reason for his action is unknown. The authorities have not yet officially commented on the incident.
Radio Ozodi first reported the incident, writing that he was a resident of the Fayzabad district, left to serve 8 months ago and was a soldier in the sapper battalion of the Ministry of Defense in the Rudaki region. The young man was on ten-day leave and was supposed to return to his unit on April 28.
Kurbongul Ashurova, mother of Shahboz, in conversation with Ozodi said that before throwing himself into the river, her son called her and said that if he had made some mistake, he asked for forgiveness.
“On the phone he said: if I made a mistake in life, mom, forgive me, he repeated the same thing three times: mom, if I made a mistake in something, forgive me,” said the soldier’s mother.
She also said that Shahboz complained of pain in his kidneys. The publication, citing a source in the investigation, wrote that two versions of the soldier’s death are being considered: ill-treatment in a military unit and family problems as possible causes of suicide.
Kanoatsho Nurov, Shakhboz Jonmakhmadzoda’s uncle, told Asia-Plus on April 30 that the soldier’s phone number was with the prosecutor’s office, and he knew nothing about the details of the investigation.
“We don’t know why he threw himself into the river. That day he told his wife that he would get his hair cut and come. He said that he would go to his grandfather’s house, take a blessing from his grandmother and return to work in the morning. On the night of the incident, his father arrived from Russia. The body has not yet been found, we have been searching for three days near the river bank,” said Shakhboz’s uncle.
The Ministry of Defense told Asia-Plus that the investigation into this case is being conducted by the country’s military prosecutor’s office. The source advised us to go there for details. Attempts to obtain additional information from the military prosecutor’s office were unsuccessful.
After the story was reported in the media, the Ministry of Defense issued a statement on April 30 claiming that the soldier’s health and conditions at the unit were “good.” However, the reasons for the incident were not explained there either.
It should be noted that over the past month, the media reported the death of three soldiers of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan, who died under different circumstances.
In particular, 23-year-old serviceman of the Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense Golibjon Ibrokhimov from the Hamadoni region died on the morning of April 25. The cause of death was listed as “unintentional bone ingestion.”
Radio Ozodi reported that Tajikistan’s military prosecutor has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the soldier’s death in hospital.
The source wrote that Golibjon Ibrokhimov said in a voice message to his family that he swallowed a bone while eating pilaf, but the officers, despite the severe pain, did not pay attention to his condition. He left to serve in October last year.
Earlier, 25-year-old Isrofil Azimzoda, drafted into the army on March 30, was buried on April 14 in the Rudaki region. Sharifa Azimova, the soldier’s mother, told Radio Ozodi that the commanders and officers of the unit told her that her son “fell from the fourth floor.”
She told the publication that she did not believe the authorities’ words, since “her son’s body showed signs of severe beating.” The soldier’s wife said that her husband pointed to several people in the hospital and said that they were the ones who beat him.
The responsible authorities have not officially commented on this case.
Recently, the military court of the Khatlon region sentenced one officer suspected of the death of Shokhdil Jurazoda, a soldier of the border troops of Tajikistan, to 10 years in prison.
The problem of torture in military units, beating of recruits and the existence of hazing still causes serious concern. There are also a lot of complaints, and some of them become public.
