Tashkent court jails unlicensed cosmetologists over unsafe plastic procedures

The Chilanzar District Criminal Court found that a 41-year-old man and his 38-year-old wife ran a cosmetology center in the basement of a residential building in Chilanzar district despite lacking higher medical education or the required professional certification. The woman carried out the procedures, while her husband assisted. The couple actively advertised invasive cosmetic services involving skin incisions on social media.

On April 3, 2025, a woman who responded to the couple’s online advertisements underwent a plastic procedure that posed a serious risk to her health and life. As a result, the client developed infections around her forehead and eyes, lost natural facial features, and suffered visible disfigurement. A forensic medical examination concluded that such procedures must only be performed by a highly qualified plastic surgeon with a medical degree, and not by cosmetologists or medical students.

The court established that the couple had performed surgical skin incisions in the temporal and preauricular areas of the client’s face in an attempt to tighten the skin. Post-operative complications included infection and prolonged discharge from the wound, requiring repeated visits for treatment. Medical examinations showed that the injuries had not fully healed.

A second woman was also recognized as a victim. She underwent a similar procedure on June 22, 2025, which led to comparable complications, including infection and facial damage around the forehead and eyes.

Both defendants fully admitted their guilt in court. In her testimony, the woman claimed she had studied medicine in Moscow but had not completed her degree, described herself as a trainee of a well-known surgeon, and said she was currently enrolled in a distance-learning medical program in Kyrgyzstan. She acknowledged renting a room near a cosmetology clinic, promoting services on social media, and providing various cosmetic procedures. According to her statement, her husband assisted her during operations, including making facial incisions at a client’s request.

Both victims told the court they had found the couple through social media advertisements and suffered bodily harm as a result of the procedures.

Under a verdict issued on January 28, 2026, the court found the couple guilty under Article 186, Part 2 (clauses b, v, g) of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code, which covers the provision of services that do not meet safety requirements and result in serious harm. The woman was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom, while the man received a three-year prison sentence and was taken into custody in the courtroom. Both sentences are to be served in settlement-type correctional facilities.