DUSHANBE, August 16, 2011, Asia-Plus - The Khatlon regional court sentenced a 37-year-old resident of Dangara region to 19 years in prison for brutal murder of his niece.

Last weekend Ismatullo Nasriddinov brutally beat then strangled his 19-year-old niece whom he suspected of stealing jewelries and being a prostitute, the Council of Justice told the AP. 

“The criminal hanged his niece’s dead body in cowhouse and told her relatives that she committed a suicide,” the source said.

A total of seven murders were registered this year in Khatlon area, including six committed in Dangara region.