Child Disappearances Spark Serial Killer Fears in Tajik Capital
| Publisher | Institute for War and Peace Reporting |
| Publication Date | 5 November 2014 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | RCA Issue 747 |
| Cite as | Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Child Disappearances Spark Serial Killer Fears in Tajik Capital, 5 November 2014, RCA Issue 747, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/545cc4e94.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A series of disappearances of young children has sown panic in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, and police silence is doing nothing to calm parents' fears.
In March 2013, two sisters aged four and five disappeared, and in August 2014, a five-year-old girl who lived near them also went missing. Her body was later discovered, making it a murder case, but the two others have not been found. At the end of October, an eight-year-old boy was found dead in a local river. Police said he hit his head and drowned, but local residents doubt his death was accidental.
The interior ministry is not saying anything about the cases, leading to suspicions that either it is withholding information or its police officers are not up to the job of solving these crimes.
Experts say the cases demonstrate that the ministry needs a special department to investigate abductions, and that parents need to be educated about keeping their children safe.
As uncertainty reigns, parents are increasingly afraid to let their children out of their sight, even to go to school.
