Starved, tortured, and doused with boiling water. In Jizzakh, a mother-in-law and sisters-in-law tortured their daughter-in-law for two months

Starved, tortured, and doused with boiling water. In Jizzakh, a mother-in-law and sisters-in-law tormented their daughter-in-law for two months

In the Jizzakh region, a young woman fell victim to brutal and regular torture by her husband's relatives. For two months, she was kept in a locked apartment, starved, forced to drink water from the toilet and eat cockroach poison, and then repeatedly doused with boiling water mixed with salt and baking soda.

The incident was reported by the human rights project Nemolchi.uz, citing the victim's father. According to him, the victim and her husband married in October 2025, and the couple soon had a daughter. The young family lived in a rented apartment, but in May 2026, the husband was taken into custody.

The pretext for the brutal abuse arose at the end of June, when the woman, during a visit to the prison colony, told her husband about the actions of his relatives. As it turned out, the mother-in-law and sister-in-law had insisted on buying a gold item on installment to subsequently pawn it, and had also tried to take out a loan in the daughter-in-law's name to buy a phone, but the bank refused due to an active debt.

The reaction of the husband's relatives followed immediately. On the way back from the colony, the sister-in-law took her passport, phone, and the child's birth certificate. And as early as July 6, the husband's relatives rented a separate apartment, where they forcibly placed the daughter-in-law, and began systematically taking revenge on her for what she had told her husband.

According to Nemolchi.uz, the victim was fed only one piece of bread a day, allowed to use the toilet only once a day, forced to drink water from the toilet and eat cockroach poison. The woman was beaten in turns and in groups, choked, had her head slammed against the wall, and was struck in the abdomen and groin area — all while the abuse was filmed on video, accompanied by death threats against the young woman herself and her relatives.

On August 29, the abuse became even more sophisticated. One of the sisters-in-law asked the daughter-in-law: "If I pour boiling water on you, will you get burned?" — and immediately doused her with hot water. When the woman tried to tear off her burning clothes, she was dragged into the kitchen and doused again with a prepared solution of boiling water, salt, and baking soda.

The victim managed to escape only on September 6, when the relatives accidentally left the balcony door unlocked. The young woman climbed down the fire escape from the third floor and asked passersby to call a taxi. After contacting her father, she went with him to the hospital, where she was hospitalized with burns and festering wounds.

In response to an inquiry from Nemolchi.uz, Nilufar Giyasova, head of the department for work with women at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, confirmed that a criminal case had been opened under Articles 109 ("Intentional light bodily injury") and 110 ("Torture") of the Criminal Code. However, the victim's father says that investigators have not contacted him since September 6, and the scheduling of the forensic medical examination was postponed until the young woman is discharged from the hospital.

In this regard, the victim's family and the Nemolchi.uz project have appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan, demanding that the case be taken under personal control, that the charges be reclassified to articles carrying heavier penalties, and that the necessary expert actions be carried out.