MIA refutes rumors about disappearance of girls en masse in Tashkent 

A number of Uzbek-language Telegram channels are spreading news about the disappearance of girls in Tashkent. Kun.uz contacted the information service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to clarify the issue.

According to the MIA press secretary, Shokhrukh Giyasov, the messages about the disappearance of girls spread on the Telegram messenger give the impression that these events are connected to each other, but they are not true. This is confirmed by the fact that the girls disappeared on different days and in different places.

“It is often observed that teenagers who are entering puberty do not go out with their family members or go to their grandparents, friends or other relatives because they are disappointed with their family members. I do not mean to say that we are indifferent to such messages. Such messages will be monitored as they spread and inquiries will be made with the help of the relevant services. So far, none of the reports about the disappearance of the girls on social media have been confirmed. Because all of them were found by officers on the day or the next day after receiving a report to 102 about their disappearance,” Shokhrukh Ghiyosov said.

According to the ministerial press secretary, someone summarized reports about missing girls from different places at different times and tried to give a scary tone to the reality, thereby spreading confusion among the population.

The MIA official noted that the number of calls to the 102 service increased after these messages, and reminded that Telegram channel administrators are responsible for checking every piece of information and then publishing it. They will be held accountable for spreading unverified and untrue information.