The Investigative Committee of Russia has closed the criminal case against 21-year-old Ingushetia resident Aina Mankieva over the alleged theft of ₽20,000 ($230) from her mother. An official statement from the agency said that investigators found no signs of a crime in Mankieva’s actions, and no evidence of her involvement in the alleged theft.
The case was initially opened on the basis of a complaint from Mankieva’s mother, who reported to law enforcement that her daughter had stolen ₽20,000 ($230). The subsequent investigation began in early January. The materials were then reviewed by the Investigative Committee, which concluded there was no evidence of a criminal offence, and criminal proceedings against the woman were terminated, the human rights group Marem reported on Thursday.
In April 2025, with the help of human rights defenders, Mankieva managed to leave her family in Ingushetia and move to Moscow. She had reported experiencing long-term domestic violence at the hands of her family members.
On 15 January 2026, Moscow police detained Mankieva in connection with the alleged theft. At that time, she filed a counter-complaint accusing her family members of rape, systematic abuse, and illegal deprivation of liberty. Based on her complaint, investigators opened a criminal case against her relatives.
Elizaveta Chukharova
Human rights activists from Marem note that girls who have fled abusive households often face accusations of theft.
‘Claims of theft are a tried-and-tested method to lawfully return survivors of domestic violence to the region from which they fled. Similar cases were opened against Seda Suleymanova and Selima Ismailova. Police took both back to Chechnya, and we never saw them again’, Marem representatives wrote.
Following Mankieva’s detention, her father Hambor Mankiev claimed that the family had provided his daughter with everything she needed and had ‘treated her very gently’. According to him, everything was bought for her, she was cared for, and everything was done for her. After school, she was ‘sent to a college to become an educated person’.
‘To earn money, to simply live happily. We bought her an apartment, we did renovations’, Mankiev said.
Elizaveta Chukharova
He also expressed certainty that someone could have ‘recruited’ the young woman, though he did not clarify as to what he thought she was recruited for.
‘She lived in comfort, had everything. She ran away with someone, I don’t know. But the main thing is who recruited her, who did this, who prepared her, I want to find the criminal. It destroys families. Without a mother, without a father, without brothers, without sisters — no one can be happy’, Mankiev said.
‘I will find them at any cost. For this, the authorities are working up to the top, even up to the State Duma. We will not leave this unresolved’, he added.
Earlier, Mankiev was convicted of attempting to sell a two-year-old foster child and received a suspended sentence, despite the charge carrying a maximum of ten years in prison.
According to Mankieva, her family belongs to the religious-communal group of the Batalkhadzhi, whose members practice strict control over family members, early marriages, and limit opportunities for girls’ education.
