A court ruling against an 18-year-old woman who was subjected to harassment in Namangan has been overturned, with an appellate court finding that her actions constituted necessary self-defense, the Namangan province courts reported on their Telegram channel.
It was earlier reported that on July 27, 2026a 67-year-old man groped a 19-year-old woman's thigh and subjected her to lewd harassment aboard a public bus. In response, the woman struck the man.
In the criminal case that followed, the Namangan city court found the man guilty of an offense under Part 1, Article 41-1 of the Code of Administrative Liability and fined him twice the base calculation unit — 824,000 soums.
The woman, meanwhile, was found guilty under Part 2, Article 52 of the same code. Taking into account mitigating circumstances and her personal situation, the court fined her half the base calculation unit — 206,000 soums.
The woman appealed the ruling, and her case was reheard by the appellate division of the Namangan Province Court on August 12.
The appellate court concluded that the woman's actions had been taken in necessary self-defense and dismissed the portion of the administrative case against her under Clause 4, Article 271 of the Code of Administrative Liability.
The court also reviewed the penalty imposed on the man. It found that the first-instance court had failed to adequately account for the social danger posed by his offense when determining his sentence. As a result, that portion of the ruling was overturned and a harsher penalty was imposed on the man, identified by the initials A.N. The court did not disclose what the new penalty entails.
The case follows a separate report from Sirdaryo province, where a coach who harassed a former student was jailed for five days. In that case, the fine imposed on the young woman involved was also overturned by an appellate court ruling.
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