The body of Chechnya-born Larisa Arsanukaeva, who was murdered by her ex-husband in the French city of Nice, was sent back to Chechnya more than two months after her death.
This was reported by the Marem, a group which provides assistance to victims of domestic abuse in the North Caucasus. According to them, the delay was linked to the absence of the necessary documents from Arsanukaeva’s former husband’s family.
Arsanukaeva was 39 years old when she was killed by her ex, Bashir Alibiev, also a native of Chechnya, on 4 November 2025.
Alibiev had attacked her with a knife as she was returning home. Their eldest daughter attempted to stop her father, but was stabbed by him as well. Larisa Arsanukaeva died at the scene, while her daughter was hospitalised.
Marem reported that Arsanukaeva’s body was taken out of France on 5 January, having been kept at a French morgue for over two months. The group’s publication states that, under French law, a body may remain in a morgue for more than one month only if additional forensic medical examinations are required. Such examinations are usually carried out if one of the parties disagrees with the conclusions of the investigation.
Citing activist Eli Khesmak and human rights defender Aida Mirmaksumova, who works in France with victims of domestic violence, Marem said that the reason for the delay was the position of the Alibiev family. According to Khesmak, the family did not submit confirmation to the court that they had no additional claims regarding the forensic examinations and that the body could be released for burial.
Video footage was attached to the crisis group’s publication which, it claimed, shows the moment the body was sent from France, as well as a photograph of the body being prepared for transportation.
According to RFE/RL, Arsanukaeva’s funeral is scheduled for Wednesday. Her place of burial has not been officially announced.
Larisa Arsanukaeva was the mother of seven children. According to human rights advocates, five of them remained with their father after the divorce. It is reported that Alibiev forbade Arsanukaeva from seeing the children.
Alibiev had previously been arrested in 2023 for domestic abuse in France, but the charges were ultimately dropped, a local prosecutor in Nice said.
Arsanukaeva had reportedly told her friends that Alibiev repeatedly threatened her, and that she had contacted the police on several occasions to no avail.
An anonymous source told RFE/RL that Alibiev claimed his father had previously held a high-ranking position in the Chechen government, which had emboldened him. The source added that Alibiev’s parents had allegedly justified and even supported their son’s violent abuse of his wife.
On 8 November, hundreds joined a rally for Arsanukaeva, calling for the authorities to punish Alibiev to the fullest extent of the law and for increased awareness of the domestic violence Chechen women face.
The body of another murdered Chechen woman, Aishat Baimuradova, has remained in a morgue in Yerevan for more than two months. Baimuradova was killed in Armenia and, according to human rights advocates, her relatives have so far provided no official response regarding what should be done with her body.
Nate Ostiller
