EKIBASTUZ, Kazakhstan -- Local rights activists in Kazakhstan’s northern Pavlodar region say a female inmate protesting alleged sexual harassment has been hospitalized.
On October 24, the chairwoman of the Action against Lawlessness NGO, Yelena Semyonova, said 25-year-old Sabina Makhinina was beaten by guards.
On October 22, a video-statement by Makhinina circulated on the Internet.
In the video, she states that she began a hunger strike since October 10 to protest attempts by a prison officer to force her to have sex with him.
WATCH: A female Kazakh inmate on hunger strike alleges sexual harrassment in her prison (in Russian).
An official with the regional penitentiary control department confirmed that Makhinina had been beaten and hospitalized.
She is serving a six-year term in a female labor camp for a drug-related crime.
On October 24, the chairwoman of the Action against Lawlessness NGO, Yelena Semyonova, said 25-year-old Sabina Makhinina was beaten by guards.
On October 22, a video-statement by Makhinina circulated on the Internet.
In the video, she states that she began a hunger strike since October 10 to protest attempts by a prison officer to force her to have sex with him.
WATCH: A female Kazakh inmate on hunger strike alleges sexual harrassment in her prison (in Russian).
An official with the regional penitentiary control department confirmed that Makhinina had been beaten and hospitalized.
She is serving a six-year term in a female labor camp for a drug-related crime.
