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Tajik Official Says Beating Victim Died Of Hepatitis


KULOB, Tajikistan -- A woman who was beaten by a Russian soldier in the southwestern Tajik city of Kulob has died, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

Kulob police spokesman Rustamkhon Botyrov told RFE/RL that Anzhelika Golovina died of liver failure last week.

He said she suffered injuries after being beaten last week by Sergei Vedyanin, a Russian military officer from a unit stationed in Khatlon Province, but that her death was ultimately caused by complications from hepatitis.

Meanwhile, some locals in Kulob have complained about the presence of the Russian military in their city.

Local resident Khayriddin Sadulloev told RFE/RL that drunken Russian soldiers often "literally terrorize the local population by fighting with each other or attacking passersby."

In September, two Russian soldiers were convicted of killing a taxi driver in Qurghon-Teppa.

The Russian military base in Kulob is considered crucial for monitoring the Tajik-Afghan border.

There are some 7,000 Russian service personnel in Tajikistan at bases in Dushanbe and the southern cities of Qurghon-Teppa and Kulob.
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