A family acquaintance suspected of sexually abusing the child went to fight in Ukraine before the verdict was issued
A woman in Ingushetia accused of abusing her four-year-old daughter, leading to her death, has been sentenced to three years of suspended imprisonment with a two-year probation and a ₽50,000 ($600). The girl, who also reportedly exhibited signs of sexual abuse, died in April 2023 as a result of her injuries.
The Malgobek City Court sentenced 33-year-old Tamila Mutsolgova on 21 October.
According to the court, between July 2018 and April 2023, Mutsolgova systematically used violence against her daughter Samira — pulling her by the hair and hitting her with her hand and with toys on the face, head, and legs. In addition, according to the prosecution, the mother did not wash or feed the girl, did not take her for walks, and did not take her to doctors, as a result of which the child received no vaccinations.
In its decision, the court stated that ‘as a result of the deliberate actions and inaction of Mutsolgova’, the child was raised in an antisocial environment, had a delay in psycho-speech development, and was deprived of adequate medical care, which negatively affected her health.
Mutsolgova has not admitted guilt and refused to testify in court.
In April 2023, the girl was taken to hospital, where she was diagnosed with severe injuries, exhaustion, as well as bruises and other damages. She died in the hospital three weeks later.
Several sources have said that the girl exhibited signs of sexualised violence, including RFE/RL, Ingushetian Imam Khamzat Chumakov, and the security forces-linked Telegram channel Rozysk Ingushetiya (Search Ingushetia).
The Investigative Committee called reports of the girl being subjected to sexual violence ‘unreliable’, and a repeated forensic medical examination listed acute leukaemia as the cause of death.
Even so, a family acquaintance, Ingushetia resident Bashir Vedzizhev, was detained on suspicion of sexual violence committed against the girl. Following this, he recorded a video in which he swore on the Koran that he had not touched the girl. In November 2024, he signed a military contract and went to fight in Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. He has not been heard from since.
Before being detained in the Mutsolgova case, Vedzizhev had been convicted of large-scale drug trafficking. After his arrest, unknown individuals threw a grenade into his family’s yard. A few days later, another explosive device was found near the home of Vedzizhev’s 65-year-old mother.
Elizaveta Chukharova
