Exits from Ashgabat are cordoned off by soldiers and police

There are four main exits, or gates, from Ashgabat. Starting from today military conscripts and police officers, equipped with guns, have been checking every car exiting the city. The IDs of drivers and passengers as well as the contents of trunks are being checked.

As a result of such rigid control long queues of passengers cars, trucks and buses have formed. When asked by drivers and passengers about what had happened, the inspectors did not provide any explanations.

Yesterday (November 18) rumours were circulating around the city that several female junior graders had been raped and killed.

Earlier today police officers paid visits to virtually all Ashgabat schools. They stopped at every classroom during classes and warned schoolchildren not to approach male strangers and to refrain from talking to them. School principals and teachers were instructed by the police officers to urge parents to speak with their children and to pay special attention to them these days.

In September 2013 the country was shocked when an 8 year old school girl was raped near the Jennet bazaar in Ashgabat. In the intensive care ward the girl described the rapist. Later, the girl died.

As a result of the investigation it was found that a child molester, a visitor from Lebap velayat, resided in the village of "?or Da�a" near Ashgabat. Several days later he was detained at the Turkmenabat station (formerly, Chardjou).

Today the territory of "?or Da�a", located north-east of Ashgabat on the coast of the Karakum canal, is cordoned off by law-enforcement officers. The district is mainly inhabited by migrant workers from Dashoguz and Lebap velayats who live in rental apartments. It is considered to be a crime-prone area. The police are checking IDs of all men residing in this area.

Turkmen media outlets do not report whether children were raped and killed and in this connection the law enforcement authorities are conducting wide-scale investigations.

Source: TIHR