In Fergana, an imam's deputy who performed a marriage ceremony for a minor girl has been subjected to criminal punishment.
A person who worked at one of the Jome mosques in the Uchko‘prik district performed a nikah (religious marriage ceremony) for a girl born in 2008, who had not gone through the "ZAGS" (civil registry office). "Because I had not reached the legal marriage age, the civil registry office refused to register a legal marriage. At that time, my family members had already agreed to hold the wedding and had even set a date," the girl said in court.
In Fergana, an imam's deputy was punished for conducting a religious ceremony between individuals whose marriage was not legally registered. Zamon.uz reviewed the court document.
According to the court verdict, O.V., born in 1991, worked as an imam's deputy at the Jome Mosque in the Qaqir village of Uchko'prik district (2017-2025). On November 21, 2025, he performed a religious marriage (shar'iy nikoh) for a 30-year-old fellow villager (the groom) A.M. and a 17-year-old Z.B.
"I agreed to perform the marriage because they asked me. Knowing they had no documents, I conducted the religious ceremony for the marriage in exchange for 400,000 soums, in the presence of witnesses. I now understand the consequences of my actions, I sincerely regret it, and considering that I have no prior criminal record, I ask you to impose a lighter sentence," he said in his testimony in court.
Additionally, A.M. testified in court, stating that the imam's deputy performed the marriage because the wedding day had been set.
"We got married on November 22, 2025. Before that, the civil registry office (FHDYO) refused to legally register the marriage because Z.B. had not reached the marriageable age. At that time, my family members had already agreed on the wedding and set the date. On November 21, we went to the residence of O.V., who lives in the (...) village of Uchko'prik district, to have the religious marriage performed with witnesses. Initially, upon learning that Z.B. was born in 2008 and had not reached the marriageable age, he said he would not perform the religious marriage. However, after I told him that the wedding was the next day, he agreed," he said.
Z.B. also confirmed these statements and stated that she had no complaints regarding the situation.
On April 9, 2026, the Uchko'prik District Court for Criminal Cases reviewed the case, found O.V. guilty of committing the crime stipulated in Part 3 of Article 125-1 of the Criminal Code (Violation of legislation on marriageable age or the procedure for marriage registration), and sentenced him to a fine of 80 times the base calculation amount, i.e., 32 million 960 thousand soums, under that article.
It was noted that O.V. had previously been fined 3 million 750 thousand soums under Part 3 of Article 473 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (Violation of legislation on marriageable age or the procedure for marriage registration) for conducting a religious ceremony between individuals whose marriage was not legal.
Author: Shahzod O'roqboyev
