BISHKEK (Reuters) -Kyrgyzstan’s populist President Sadyr Japarov has ordered the drafting of a bill to reinstate the death penalty for the most serious crimes against children and women.

His move followed the killing of a 17-year-old girl, which sparked public outrage in the mountainous former Soviet republic of around seven million people. Her body was found on September 27, and a suspect has been detained.

Kyrgyzstan was ranked the most dangerous country for women in Central Asia in the previous two years, according to the global Women, Peace and Security Index.

According to the presidential administration, the proposed legislation would reinstate the death penalty for rape of children and for rape followed by murder of women.

Kyrgyzstan has observed a moratorium on the death penalty

See Full Page