KHUJAND, December 29, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A man in northern Tajikistan has beaten his 74-year-old mother to death.

The tragedy took place in the village of Punuk in Sughd’s Asht district on December 27.  According to the Sughd police directorate, the 38-year-old Ismoil Sodirov being in a state of drunkenness severely beat his 74-year-old mother, Pari Sodirova, following family quarrel.  “She died of wounds sustained from beating on the spot,” the source said.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against Ismoil Sodirov under the provisions of article 104 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – murder, and an investigation is under way.

It is already the second such case reported in the province this month.  In early December, the 23-year-old resident of the Bobojonghafurov district smothered his mother to death following family quarrel.