The Shaykhantahur District Criminal Court in Tashkent has reviewed an administrative case against a 23-year-old security guard at a local school, accused of sexually harassing a minor student. The incident reportedly occurred on September 15 at around 15:30 inside a school building in the Shaykhantahur district. According to case materials, the man approached a sixth-grade girl born in 2014, grabbed her by the waist, and kissed her on the lips.

The preliminary investigation body classified the actions under Part 1 of Article 41-1 of the Administrative Responsibility Code of Uzbekistan (sexual harassment) and forwarded the materials to court. However, the court concluded that the circumstances of the case were not fully examined. Specifically, the investigation failed to assess whether the man's actions contained elements of a crime under Article 129 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan.

«This article provides criminal liability for committing lewd acts without violence against a person under 16 years of age. If such acts are committed against a child under 14, punishment includes restriction of freedom or imprisonment from 3 to 5 years. If violence or threats are used, the punishment ranges from 5 to 8 years of imprisonment,» the court ruling states.

The court also noted that when considering an administrative case, it is necessary to establish the fact of the offense, the time and place of the incident, the guilt of the person, the grounds for bringing them to administrative responsibility, and other circumstances relevant to the proper resolution of the case. However, the initial investigation was conducted in violation of these requirements: the circumstances were not studied comprehensively, fully, and objectively.

Therefore, the court deemed it impossible to consider the administrative case on its merits without eliminating the identified deficiencies. The materials regarding the school employee have been sent to the prosecutor of Shaykhantahur district for a repeat investigation.

Source: uznews.uz