Women laborers beaten in Samarkand, details and reasons provided

Kun.uz creative team conducted an inquiry into how the incident actually happened.

The roundabout, located in Yangarik mahalla of Samarkand district, has been a labor market for 10 years. Men stand on one side, women – on the other. While men are hired in various heavy jobs, women are mainly involved in agricultural work, cleaning, sweeping, etc.

Allegedly, several young men from Pastdargom used to bring women from villages to work here in the morning in a Gazelle car and pick them up in the evening. They are called “brigadier”. There are also women among the brigadiers.

There are also men and women who have entered the market in search of work. The dispute arose out of a group of women workers here.

The incident happened on July 21, at around 17:00. Apparently, siblings Sh.I. and Kh.I. (aged 33 snd 25), originally from Pastdargom district, living in a rented house in Kimyogarlar Kurgan, were insulted by one of the “brigadier” women. After the quarrel, the sisters chased the woman to the place where the Gazelles were standing on the M37A road.

“That “brigadier” woman harshly insulted me. Then we chased her to the place where the Gazelles were parked. She hid in one of the two Gazelles standing on the roadside. When we tried to get into the car, she used offensive words against us, pushed us back and beat us. Then we got outraged and threw stones at the cars,” Sh.I. said.

The sisters, who were described as being beaten on the Internet, took stones from the parking lot of taxis to Karshi and smashed the windows of two Gazelles. One of the car drivers and a young man initially tried to break up the fight there and pushed the sisters. After hearing insults from them, the men started beating them. Citizen Kh.I. was exhausted as a result of blows and lay on the ground.

Zahid, the driver of a Gazelle minibus, said that replacing the car windows cost him 9.6 million soums. Now the minibuses have been put in the penalty area until the investigation is completed.

The second man involved in the fight said he just wanted to separate the women who were fighting. However, the sisters attacked him with offensive words. He also admitted that he got angry and raised his hand against the women.

Although the owner of a second Gazel car did not get involved in any quarrel, stones were thrown at his car and suffered damage in the amount of 3.5 million soums.

One of the beaten women Sh.I. admitted that she drank beer that day. She said that if one of the brigadier women had not come and insulted her, the conflict would not have happened.

According to her, “brigadiers” send women to work for low wages. Moreover, they charge 15,000 soums per person for their “employment service”. All women there struggle hard earn at least 100,000 soums in daily work.

The sisters also take care of the 4- and 1.5-year-old children of a woman familiar to them. Reportedly, the elder sister “hadn’t studied anywhere, hadn’t gone to school even”.

The image of the girl lying on the ground and a young boy standing on top of her went viral on social networks – this was Kh.I., and according to her, the child is not hers, but that he has been raising the child since he was 5 months old. On the same day, the sisters also brought those babies, who were someone else’s children, to the district DIA.

The sisters said that they have no claim against the guys who beat them.

When Kun.uz creative team arrived at the labor market, one of the female daily job seekers told us what caused the quarrel.

“They collect young girls and women from the villages and hand them over to farmers for 15,000 soums. They don’t give us a chance of employment by saying that we are old and cannot work. We are also humans, we also need to earn for living. The police officers are also on their side, saying that they are providing work to so many people. They should keep the neutrality without taking the side of a particular party,” she said.

Zebiniso Rakhmonova, the deputy khokim of the region, head of the family and women’s department, spoke with the sisters and emphasized that it is impossible to allow women to be beaten in such a way, she condemned the men’s actions who beat the women. She said that women will be helped in providing permanent jobs and housing. But the sisters do not believe that such help will be provided.

Nilufar Sattorova, senior inspector of the crime prevention department of the Samarkand Regional DIA, noted that investigations are being conducted in connection with the incident.

These are the details of the fight that occurred in the labor market along the Samarkand-Karshi highway. The essence of conflict lies in financial deficiency. Lack of work and unemployment are the reason for the humiliation of women, aren’t they?

Is it appropriate to beat up women on street, in front of everyone, for whatsoever reason?

Also, is there any way to solve the problems observed at this location – other than banning the labor market?

About three years ago, Kun.uz wrote about the unorganized labor market on Sadriddin Ayniy Street in Samarkand, the injustices arising from the demolition of people’s property and the establishment of a temporary employment labor market.

So, have those issues been resolved? If so, why are there still problems with the labor market? Is there any responsible executive in Samarkand who can answer these questions clearly?