Nargiz Hamrabaeva in a correspondent for RFE/RL's Russian Service on Central Asia in Dushanbe.
In many families in Central Asia, corporal punishment is not only common, it is the norm. Slaps for poor grades, ear-pulls for disobedience, beatings "to instill discipline" -- these all remain embedded in the parenting culture.
A Tajik man is suing his new wife for not being a virgin, an accusation the woman vehemently denies. The dispute has put the spotlight on the local tradition in Central Asia where premarital sex is deemed unacceptable.
