Kindergarten child dies after days of abuse by staff

The teacher of the non-governmental preschool "Zajji Nihollar" in Tashkent, 28-year-old A.L., and 68-year-old staff member G.V. tortured a 2-year-old child over the course of three days, ultimately leading to the child's death. A court verdict has since been delivered for both individuals. QALAMPIR.UZ reviewed the official court documents.

According to the court materials, between December 9 and 11 of last year, A.L. and G.V. abused a child identified as Z.A., born in 2022, for refusing to eat and sleep. They beat the child on various parts of his body, dragged him by his clothes, kicked him while he was lying down, and threw him multiple times.

On July 4 of this year, the Almazar District Court for Criminal Cases heard the case. Both A.L. and G.V. testified in court. According to the testimony, on December 11, 2024, A.L. arrived at work at 8:00 a.m. and received the children in his group from their parents. He served them breakfast and led them in a morning exercise. After lunch, he put the children to bed. At that time, Z.A. was seen crying near the door of another room instead of lying down. Angered, A.L. kicked the child three times. After the first kick, Z.A. hit the wall, and A.L. then picked him up and threw him onto the bed. Teacher G.V. then entered the room and, seeing the crying child, pushed him, picked him up again, threw him on the bed, and reportedly said, "I’ll kill you if you don’t sleep," before leaving.

A few minutes later, A.L. noticed the child sitting up and slapped him in the face. Around 10–15 minutes after that, Z.A. raised his head again. A.L. told him to lie back down and slapped him two more times. Another 10–15 minutes passed, and when the child was still awake and crying, A.L. reportedly said, "I’m going to choke him now," and threw him again. When the crying continued, A.L. placed a blanket over the child's mouth and repeatedly covered his mouth with his hand, choking and hitting him.

When the child still did not stop crying, A.L. reportedly knocked him to the floor. The child lay motionless with his eyes open. A.L. then took him to the bathroom, washed his face, and laid him down again. Alarmed by the child’s unresponsive state, A.L. called other staff members. They attempted to provide first aid, but Z.A. did not regain consciousness. Emergency medical personnel later arrived and transported the child to the hospital. Despite receiving treatment, Z.A. passed away on December 14, 2024. In court, both defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

Following the trial, A.L. was convicted under Article 104, Part 3, Subparagraph "d" of the Criminal Code (Intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm resulting in the death of the victim). He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison under Article 57 of the Criminal Code.

G.V. was found guilty under Article 110, Part 2, Subparagraphs "a" and "c" (Torture) of the Criminal Code and was sentenced to three years of restricted liberty.

It should be noted that in a separate incident, a 5-year-old child left unattended in a kindergarten in Tashkent’s Chilonzor district fell from the second floor. According to doctors’ initial diagnosis, the child, identified as R.I., sustained fractures to both wrists, a nasal bone fracture, and a fracture of the upper molar alveolar ridge.