Authorities in Uzbekistan are investigating a video taken from a wedding party where a groom punched his bride in the head after the video went viral, sparking a public outcry at home and abroad.
The 30-second video, which has swept across websites and media outlets around the world, shows the bridegroom suddenly hitting the bride after she completed a game to open candy before him. After the strike, the bridegroom's best man smiles as no one attends to the shaken bride. Eventually two women escort her away.
The press service of Uzbekistan's State Committee on Family and Women's Issues said the incident took place on June 6 at a wedding party at the bridegroom's home in the Uzun district of the southeastern region of Surxondaryo.
After the video went viral and raised protests and criticism internationally, the Uzun district police said on June 15 that the bridegroom, whose identity remains undisclosed, was charged with "minor hooliganism," which carries a possible punishment of a fine or several days in jail.
Local media cited police authorities as saying that a conversation was conducted with the couple and their parents regarding the incident.
Uzbek rights activist and blogger Aqida Khanum told RFE/RL that the incident on the video illustrates "just a tip of an iceberg" of what women can face in the Central Asian nation.
"That man is sure that it is normal to raise a hand against a woman. That means his father did the same, beat his mother. Society around him accepts it as a normal phenomenon. Some posts under the video, especially those made by people from Surxondaryo, said that it is 'normal' here when a man beats a woman, and that is a major problem," Khanum said.
"Unfortunately, in Uzbekistan women are literally on the lowest rung of the social hierarchy. Women must stand for beatings, suffer, and police can't do anything if no complaint is officially filed. This family will not divorce, because the girl will follow orders," Khanum added.