A Kyrgyz imam has been detained for questioning in southern Kyrgyzstan after being accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy.
The Jalal-Abad regional police department's spokesman, Myktybek Turdubekov, told RFE/RL on June 20 that the 58-year-old imam was detained after a woman from the village of At-Basar filed a complaint alleging that her son had been regularly raped by the imam.
Authorities did not release the name of the imam and did not immediately file charges against him.
Turdubekov said the detained imam could face rape charges in the case.
The alleged victim's mother, who only gave her first name, Salima, told RFE/RL that she complained to police on June 18 despite objections from her husband.
She said her husband did not want "to damage the family's honor."
Salima accused the imam of repeatedly raping her son for at least one year.
She said she noticed that her son's psychological state has changed and that he told her he was being sexually abused when she asked him what was bothering him.
