Dushanbe police order community service for people detained for begging

Police in Dushanbe have stepped up raids against begging and vagrancy, detaining people who were asking for money near shops, cafés and mosques, the city’s police department reported.
Those detained were taken to a reception and distribution center for people engaged in begging and vagrancy, where officers held preventive discussions with them.
According to the police, some were placed under administrative arrest for varying periods, while others were ordered to perform community service.
The police department said most of those detained were able-bodied and had no serious health problems but had turned begging into a regular source of income. Some reportedly involved their children in asking for alms.
Dushanbe police said the raids would continue and that measures provided for under the law would be taken against people engaged in begging and vagrancy.
Teenager sent to specialized vocational school
Earlier, officers from Police Station No. 2 in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district detained a 16-year-old boy who was reportedly living as a vagrant and was suspected of theft.
According to the police, the situation resulted from a lack of parental supervision and the parents’ failure to fulfil their child-rearing responsibilities.
The authorities applied Article 73 of Tajikistan’s Family Code, which allows a child to be removed from the family without terminating the parents’ legal rights.
The teenager was sent to a specialized vocational lyceum in Dushanbe, where he will receive schooling, supervision and vocational training.
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