DUSHANBE, April 2, 2013, Asia-Plus -- Fifteen Tajik nationals that were arrested on suspicion of rape in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on March 30 have been released.

Muhammad Egamzod, an official representative of the Tajik Embassy in Moscow, says they were released on the same day.  According to him, a meeting was held at the Embassy on April 1 to discuss that incident.  “We asked the Rostov law enforcement authorities to clarify the circumstances,” Egamzod noted.

“Rostov police said that on March 30, they received a phone call from a woman alleging that certain persons are holding her by force and are going to rape her.  She provided the address of one of Rostov firms manufacturing plastic windows.  Police officers were sent to the firm and they detained 15 Tajik nationals,” Egamzod said, referring to Konstantin Rozin, a spokesman for Russian Interior Ministry’s office for Rostov oblast.

According to Egamzod, it turned out that the detained Tajik nationals are not to blame and they were released on the same day.  “One of Russian media sources, however, hastened to spread unchecked information that fifteen Tajik nationals were arrested on suspicion of rape,” Egamzod added.

We will recall that the Russian news agency Interfax released a report on March 31 that 15 Tajik nationals were arrested in Rostov-on-Don on suspicion of raping a woman from Ukraine.  This unchecked information was reproduced by a number of Russian electronic media, including Newsru.com .