Pavlodar Kindergarten Teacher Sentenced for Child Abuse

A court in Pavlodar has sentenced a kindergarten teacher to 4.5 years in prison for the cruel treatment of children under her care. The sentence, however, has been suspended for five years.

The scandal erupted in June 2025 after parents of three-year-olds published surveillance footage from the kindergarten on social media. The videos, which sparked public outrage, showed the educator grabbing children by their hair, pushing them, slapping them, and hitting them. The incidents occurred in the locker room while the children were changing clothes. Sixteen toddlers were officially recognized as victims in the case.

The 33-year-old woman was charged under Article 140 of the Criminal Code (improper performance of duties by an employee of an educational institution involving cruel treatment of a minor) and paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 2 of Article 110 (torture). During the trial, she fully admitted her guilt and apologized to the parents of the affected children.

After examining video evidence and witness testimonies, the court found her guilty. While imposing a prison term of four years and six months, it decided to suspend its execution for five years due to mitigating circumstances—the convicted woman is a mother to three minor children, the youngest being just five months old.

In announcing the verdict, the judge detailed the abuse: "While performing her duties as a kindergarten teacher, M. Treated children cruelly. She struck them with her hands on their heads and arms, roughly removed their clothing. She forcefully seated them on chairs, yanked them, or hit various parts of their bodies—arms and heads—causing some children to subsequently hit their heads against hard objects. There are instances where she led a child around the room by grabbing their hair or ear, shook them, and threw them onto beds."

Furthermore, forensic medical examinations confirmed that three children had sustained bruises and abrasions.

The court acknowledged both mitigating and aggravating circumstances; notably that she committed the crime while performing her official duties.

However, parents of the victims are dissatisfied with what they perceive as a lenient sentence and plan to appeal. "Our children suffered not only from beatings and her cruel treatment; they received psychological trauma," said mothers of some victims. "We consider such a soft verdict unjust."

The parents had also sought compensation for moral damages totaling millions of tenge each. The court partially granted these claims but awarded significantly lower amounts: it ordered compensation payments ranging from 300 thousand to 400 thousand tenge per child.