Volgograd bicycle seller held in custody on child harassment charges

The Dzerzhinsky District Court of Volgograd decided to take into custody 30-year-old Tajik citizen Akmal Nurmura dov, who worked as a bicycle seller, accused of sexual violence against a child under 14. According to his lawyer, he picked up a boy who fell from a bicycle in the sales area, and then kissed his own hand.

“The boy fell, the seller helped him up”

As V1.RU learned, the events occurred in one of the bicycle sales shops located in the Sem Vetrov microdistrict in the Dzerzhinsky District of Volgograd. The only employee in the hall that day was 30-year-old Akmal Nurmura dov, an ethnic Uzbek and citizen of Tajikistan.

— A mother and her second-grade son came into the store, — the accused«s lawyer Albert Karmazinovsky told V1.RU. — While the mother was walking around the hall, the boy sat on one of the bicycles, couldn»t keep his balance, and fell off. The seller came to the child«s aid, simply helping the child up by taking him by the sides, and then kissed his own hand.

According to the lawyer, the boy«s mother, although she was in the sales area at that moment, did not see what happened. There were no surveillance cameras in the store, according to the defense, and the moment of the man touching the child was not recorded in any way.

— Complaints against my client arose after the boy and his mother came home and he told her that the uncle kissed his own hand once after helping him up, — says Albert Karmazinovsky. — Hearing this, the woman filed a report with the police. Despite the fact that my client did not commit any sexual acts, did not touch the child in intimate areas, and did not try to get under his clothes, he was taken into custody.

“A strange situation. If something had happened, the mother would have definitely seen it”

In a strange coincidence, the store owner sold his business to a new owner shortly after the incident. The new owner said he had heard about what happened but declined to comment, citing insufficient knowledge. The V1.RU correspondent was unable to contact the previous owner of the store.

Now, surveillance cameras have been installed in the sales area. The new administrator said he has been working in the store since the end of October and is not aware of the situation. Nevertheless, the description of what happened seems strange to him.

— There is one seller in the sales area. In theory, he should have been near the boy«s mother. How she herself did not see what happened is unclear, — he reasons. — If the mother was somewhere far away, then the seller should have been standing near her. But then he couldn»t have picked up the fallen boy. And if the mother was nearby, then she should have seen. And the sales area is not very big. If something had happened, the mother would have definitely seen it. In short, a strange situation.

“Nothing personal, it«s just a custom”

The boy«s mother categorically refused to speak with the V1.RU correspondent.

— I am not in the right condition now. I am in my ninth month of pregnancy, I don«t need this, — she said curtly.

The press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Volgograd Region could not comment on the progress of the criminal investigation. The V1.RU editorial office sent an official written request to the Investigative Committee for the region, but no response had been received by the time of publication.

According to Albert Karmazinovsky and Akmal Nurmura dov«s father, the gesture he made is just one of the national beliefs. Allegedly, among Uzbeks, there is a widespread superstition that if a man wants a son to be born to him, he should kiss his own hand after an ordinary touch to a boy.

— Akmal has only a daughter. His wife had three miscarriages in a row. Akmal just really wanted a boy to be born to him, — the accused«s father says, spreading his hands.

The lawyer, in turn, insists that despite the complete absence of any sexual subtext in his client«s actions, there was a cross-cultural misunderstanding.

— I have spoken with various Muslims who confirmed the existence of such a belief. The Egyptians I interviewed also told me about it, — says Albert Karmazinovsky. — In my opinion, we are dealing with a clash of cultures, differences in beliefs, views, and traditions. Of course, they should take into account the culture of the country they have come to. In our country, anyone would not like it when their child is touched, and then for some reason their hand is kissed. But among Muslims, it is customary, and my client did not think about it at all.