The young Chechen woman shared her story of escaping from violence in the family.

A girl of Chechen descent, who lived in the Volgograd region, managed to escape from relatives who threatened to forcibly take her to Chechnya and marry her off there. According to the Chechen girl, she was helped by "diligent police officers."

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the problem of domestic violence in Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Chechnya affects women of different ages, but mainly young girls under 30 try to escape from it, human rights defenders from the Ad Rem team noted in their report. The problem of evacuating victims of domestic violence is most acute in these regions, as local authorities and law enforcement often side with family aggressors.

The story of the Chechen girl who escaped from her relatives as soon as she reached adulthood was published by the project "Caucasus Without a Mother." The girl, under the pseudonym Samira, shared her firsthand experience of family violence and her escape, after which her relatives actively searched for her and intimidated those who helped her.

Samira, who lived with relatives in a village in the Volgograd region, was the youngest child in the family, with three older sisters. According to her, their father abused alcohol and drugs and "regularly caused havoc"; at the same time, Samira was forced from childhood to read prayers and speak only in Chechen.

"I was beaten by my mother, father, and three older sisters. Trying to defend myself was considered "disrespect," and I was beaten harder for it [...] My older sisters were also beaten. Once, when drunk, my father kicked my mother out; she hid in the closet in my room. Sometimes he would throw her out into the street in winter and forbid us to let her back in," the publication states.

In her teenage years, Samira attempted to take her own life. According to her, she was frightened by her relatives' talks about moving to Chechnya: she believed she would "definitely not escape from there." She began planning her escape from home even before she turned 18.

At 16, her relatives tried to forcibly marry her off to a 32-year-old resident of Chechnya: her sister found the groom and took the minor to him at night. "We were engaged. She knew that this contradicted our customs," Samira recounts, noting that "the parents approved of all this."

Although the family actively planned the wedding, the girl managed to refuse the marriage. The man, meanwhile, "was afraid that he would be "pantsed" for secret visits" to a minor girl. "This is what happens in Chechnya to men who have been disgraced. They are beaten, their pants are taken off, and they are thrown somewhere on the road from a car," the narrator explains.

If my relatives find me, I will become another victim of "honor killing"

After refusing the wedding, her relatives threatened her with murder, forbade her to leave the house, and regularly beat her. "I wasn't even allowed to walk around the village. I was transferred to home schooling, isolated from friends, my bank card and SIM card were taken away, and my phone was constantly checked," Samira describes her life in the family.

When the girl turned 18, her relatives announced that they would forcibly take her to Chechnya. "They said they would take my phone, force me to undergo religious training, and marry me off against my will so that I would no longer "shame the family." In order to save myself, I had to run away from home. In response, my mother and sister filed a missing person report. They threatened that if I didn't return, my father would kill my mother," she writes.

The girl admits that the prospect of being found by her relatives is "the worst thing for her," and family members actively searched for her and tried to find out her whereabouts from human rights defenders. "If my relatives find me, I will become another victim of "honor killing." There is no doubt about it," Samira states.

She notes that among the people who provided her protection from her relatives were "diligent police officers" who "stood on the side of the law and humanity." The girl added that family members still threaten those who helped her.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that a native of Chechnya, Seda Suleymanova, was detained in St. Petersburg in August 2023 and forcibly taken to her relatives in Chechnya. After that, she has not sent any messages. Her friends and human rights defenders fear that she has become a victim of so-called "honor killing," according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Abduction of Seda Suleymanova."

Seda Suleymanova's relatives presented a version that the girl left home again on February 5, 2024. According to Suleymanova's friend, Lena Patyaeva, this version does not hold up to scrutiny.

In November 2025, Lena Patyaeva held a picket in front of the building of the 54th police department of the Krasnoselsky district, where Seda Suleymanova was taken in August 2023, just before her abduction and forced return to Chechnya. She held a poster saying "You handed her over to death. Live with that." Patyaeva timed her picket to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and she managed to stand with the poster for about 40 minutes, after which law enforcement detained her. Subsequently, she was sentenced to 10 days of administrative arrest.