Young woman from Ingushetia says her life would be at risk if forced to return home

Aina Mankieva, a 20-year-old woman from Ingushetia who had been reported missing by relatives, has released a video stating that she left home voluntarily and that returning to her family would endanger her life and safety.

The video, published on 3 May by the Telegram channel Serdalo Ingushetii, showed Mankieva holding a sheet of paper dated 1 May 2025. She clearly stated her full name and passport details.

‘I left home voluntarily on 28 April 2025. My life, health, and safety are not under threat. I ask not to be searched for or reported missing. I also ask that no information about me be passed on to my relatives. I do not plan to return home because doing so could endanger my life, health, and safety’, she said in the footage.

Information about Mankieva’s disappearance had been circulating on Ingush social media since 28 April. Her passport photo was shared in Instagram pages and Telegram channels linked to the republic. The posts urged anyone with knowledge of her whereabouts to contact the authorities or call a specified number. Some messages claimed she had not returned home after college classes.

So far, local law enforcement has made no official comment on Mankieva’s video. It remains unclear whether a missing persons case was officially opened, and if so, whether she will now be removed from the search list.

Human rights defenders have long highlighted the acute nature of domestic violence in the North Caucasus, particularly in Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Daghestan. In 2023, the human rights initiative Ad Rem released a report stating that while women of all ages are affected by domestic abuse in the region, women under the age of 30 disproportionately figure among those who  attempt to escape.

According to the report, one of the most serious problems is the unwillingness of local authorities and police to protect victims — instead, they often assist families in returning women to their abusers, even at the risk of further violence.

In June 2023, the BBC released a documentary titled When I Ran Away, telling the stories of women from the North Caucasus who escaped homes where they were abused, threatened, or denied basic freedoms. For many, fleeing was the only way to survive.

One of the most high-profile cases in recent years involved 18-year-old Leila Gireeva from Ingushetia. In January 2023, she was hiding from her family in a temporary flat in Saint Petersburg provided by human rights activists. She was eventually taken to a local police station, reportedly after her relatives accused her of theft — a charge believed to have been initiated by her uncle, a police major. Gireeva was held for several hours and filed a counterclaim describing systematic abuse at home. However, investigators refused to open a criminal case. She later agreed to return to her family, citing the impossibility of continuing life with an unresolved conflict and criminal investigation hanging over her. Gireeva said her family was pressuring her to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, claiming she had lost her memory.

In another case, in November 2023, law enforcement officers in Armenia became unexpectedly involved in the search for a woman from the North Caucasus. Fatima Zurabova, a native of the Ingush village of Kantyshevo, was hiding in the Armenian town of Ashtarak when police reportedly detained her in connection with a criminal case. Her mother and uncle, Yusup Zurabov, soon arrived at the station. Initially they attempted to persuade her to return home; when that failed, they allegedly threatened her with accusations of stealing ₽60,000 ($730). Zurabova remained in Armenia following the incident.

Also in 2023, Marina Yandieva fled from her abusive family in Ingushetia for the second time. Her first attempt, in 2016, ended in her being found, beaten and forced to return home. The second escape followed a period of so-called ‘treatment’ at an Islamic centre where exorcism sessions involved partial suffocation. Despite renewed pressure and intimidation from relatives, Yandieva refused to go back.

‘Thousands’ demand investigation into possible murder of Seda Suleymanova

A North Caucasus rights group reports that more than two thousand people have demanded that Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office investigate the possible murder of Seda Suleymanova. The North Caucasus SOS (NC SOS) Crisis Group, which works with queer people and people fleeing domestic abuse in the North Caucasus, shared a form for submitting requests to Russia’s Prosecutor’s Office, Investigative Committee, and Commissioner for Human Rights on 13 February in its Telegram channel. They urge

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