Shovda Shamaeva, a 37-year-old resident of the Chechen settlement of Sernovodskoye, has died in police custody, with rumours suggesting that she might have been the victim of an ‘honour killing’.
Shamaeva was detained on 5 September, and is believed to have died while in police custody. Her body was returned to her relatives and reportedly showed signs of a violent death, according to independent media outlet Caucasian Knot and the opposition NIYSO movement.
According to these reports, neighbours of the deceased were instructed to organise the funeral ‘without unnecessary fuss’. Caucasian Knot published the content of audio messages in Chechen announcing the funeral: ‘Brothers, the daughter of Isa Shamaev has died. Tomorrow morning, at half past nine, at Isa’s house, on Kievskaya Street […] Her name was Shovda’.
The first report of Shamaeva’s death appeared on 11 September in the opposition Chechen Telegram channel NIYSO. Its authors claimed that the woman was detained on 5 September and that on 8 September her body, showing signs of torture, was handed over to relatives.
Local residents told Caucasian Knot that Shamaeva died as a result of torture in the police station, with one local telling the media outlet that she had been held there ‘for two or three days’.
It is unclear why Shamaeva was summoned by the police. Rumours circulating in local chat groups claim that the woman was detained because her car had allegedly been used to transport drugs. A resident told Caucasian Knot that security officers came to Shamaeva’s home, where a conflict broke out with her brothers, during which shots were fired. All three brothers were detained and released only after several days, when they were given their sister’s body.
At the same time, some local chats have suggested that Shamaeva was a victim of an ‘honour killing’ as a result of ‘improper behaviour’. However, Shamaeva’s neighbours have denied the veracity of these reports.
‘How can you imagine that she was taken to the police station, everyone in the neighbourhood knew about it, and then a few days later she was supposedly killed by her relatives?’ one person told Caucasian Knot.
Shamaeva, who worked as a pre-school teacher, is survived by her 15-year-old son, her mother, and three brothers. Her neighbours have dismissed rumours about her involvement in drug trafficking or leading a ‘promiscuous lifestyle’ as unfounded, saying that she was a ‘decent person’.
Caucasian Knot cited locals as saying that Shamaeva’s funeral, which was conducted in accordance with tradition, was proof that the woman had not been accused of ‘improper behaviour’.
‘If a person had really done something wrong, such funerals would not be held’, one resident said.
In a number of North Caucasus republics, so-called ‘honour killings’ occur when relatives consider a woman’s behaviour a disgrace to the family. However, in materials concerning Shamaeva’s death, local residents believe that calling Shamaeva’s death an ‘honour killing’ serves as a cover-up for a different case.
OC Media
