Santa Claus Killed in Tajikistan
Reports that the Russian equivalent to Santa Claus, known as the “Ded Moroz”, or Grandfather Frost to give a literal translation, was reportedly stabbed to death this week in a religious motivated attack in Tajikistan have been denied by the government.
A gang of people fatally attacked 24 year old Parviz Davlatbekov as he was visiting relatives, who claim that the young man came dressed as Ded Moroz as a surprise for them. They then claim that the attackers were shouting ” infidel” and “Tu kofiri” (you are unfaithful) during the attack.
The interior minister of the country stated that the attack was by a “rowdy” mob and that reports that he was dressed as the children´s hero does “not correspond with the facts”, and that “Persons who attacked him were in a state of drunkenness. Following a vocabulary quarrel, they sustained two stab wounds on him.”
The Interior Minister says a young man with multiple stab wounds was taken to one of hospitals in Dushanbe, where he died on January 2, despite efforts of physicians.
The third-year student from Tajik National University Sharif Davlatov and two others, Farrukh Samiyev and Firouz Nazrulloev were arrested on suspicion of having been involved in the attack.
