MARY, Turkmenistan -- Turkmenistan's state media often describe the country's orphanages as a safe and happy place that provides an idyllic childhood for its kids.
But 27-year-old Mahym, who grew up at an orphanage in the southeastern city of Mary, says the reality is anything but that.
Mahym, whose name has been changed in this report at her request, recalls going hungry and enduring physical and mental abuse at the hands of the staff in the state-run institution. She also said orphans are exploited as child labor in the cotton fields.
"There are all kinds of people working at the orphanage -- some were bad, some were good. But the head of the orphanage and some of the caregivers were just evil," she told RFE/RL's Turkmen Service.
According to Mahym, caregivers would "ruthlessly" beat and bully the defenseless orphans, who had no one to complain to.
"When a child broke something or didn't follow the caregivers' instructions, they would yell, beat, and insult them," Mahym said. "In fact, all the caregivers would beat us regularly. They would often pinch my hips and breasts."
No information is publicly available in the authoritarian Turkmenistan about the number of orphans in the care of government-run institutions.
State media often depicts immaculately dressed orphanage children posing for photos with top officials, including the president of the country, who pays a visit to the institutions or send them generous gifts to mark New Year's or other occasions.
The children are sometimes shown on school trips, at concerts, or meeting celebrities.
But behind the closed doors and away from the cameras, orphans are bullied, threatened, and exploited, Mahym claims. Children are even deprived of a basic education, she adds.
"We would see teachers only once or twice a month. One teacher would teach several subjects," Mahym said. "Therefore, most of the children who grew up in orphanages are illiterate; they can't read or write. The caregivers would often tell us we don't need an education."
Mahym also accuses the staff -- including cooks and caregivers -- at the Mary orphanage where she lived of taking home food that was allotted for children.
Children were only left with little more than boiled pasta, Mahym says, and that the only time the orphans would eat properly was when someone brought them food out of charity.
Sexual Exploitation, Child Labor
In one of her most damning accusations, Mahym claims she had witnessed some teenage girls at the orphanage being coerced into having sex with a law enforcement official.
Mahym did not elaborate on how widespread the alleged sexual exploitation was at her orphanage. But she says a female caregiver, who was hired in 2013, forced several girls to have sex with a police officer. Mahym says the policeman was the caregiver's relative.
"She would select good-looking girls aged 15 to 17 and force them to sleep with [a policeman]," Mahym said. "She would beat those who didn't obey."
Authorities in Mary didn't respond to RFE/RL's request for comment. RFE/RL cannot independently confirm Mahym's allegations, but several other Turkmen orphanage graduates have in the past spoken about abuses they are alleged to have endured or witnessed at the institutions.
Orphans above the age of 12 in Mary were routinely exploited as child labor to pick cotton for the state during the harvest season, Mahym claims.
"We would have lunch at the cotton field and would return to the orphanage in the evening," Mahym said. "Some caregivers would also force children to do chores at their homes."
The Turkmen government has been widely criticized for forcing students, public- and private-sector employees, and soldiers to harvest cotton under the threat of punishment.
Getting Away With Abuse
Mahym says she believes orphanage staff in Turkmenistan get away with what she describes as the abuse of defenseless children who are too afraid to complain and don't have anyone to stand up for them.
She tells the story of a childhood friend, Aisha, who began dating one of the orphanage boys and got pregnant at the age of 15. Aisha resisted the orphanage principal's demands to have an abortion but suffered a miscarriage, Mahym says.
"There were rumors that the staff put abortion pills in Aisha's food. After losing her child, Aisha began having psychological issues and was placed in a psychiatric hospital," Mahym said, adding that her friend subsequently died at the hospital.
"The principal and caregivers threatened us that if we told anyone about Aisha they would turn our lives into a living hell," Mahym said.
The orphanage children's troubles continue even after they leave care when they turn 18, as the institutions don't prepare them for independent life, Mahym says.
With no financial resources or a support system, orphanage graduates often fail to integrate into society. Some turn to crime.
By law, orphanage graduates in Turkmenistan are eligible for social housing, but many of them must wait several years for accommodation, according to a resident of Lebap Province who grew up in state care.
Instead, the authorities place female graduates in retirement homes and forcibly send the boys to the military as conscripts, the Lebap woman told RFE/RL earlier this year.
Both Mahym and the former orphanage graduate from Lebap say they have decided to speak up about their experiences to turn the spotlight on the plight of Turkmen orphans in state care.
