Dagestani gay complains about torture in rehab

Magomed Askhabov, a resident of Dagestan, has stated that he left Russia after escaping from his relatives, who sent him to be "treated" from homosexuality at a centre for drug addicts. He said that torture was used in the rehab (the centre).

According to "Kavkaz.Realii"*, Askhabov realized his sexual orientation at the age of 13. After school, his classmates learned about his gay orientation and mocked him.

Also, policemen stopped Magomed several times, they demanded his documents and insulted him, once they forced him to hug his friend and took a picture on the phone.

At the age of 16, Magomed met a guy in a social network, who came to him in Makhachkala and, with the help of another man, raped him, while filming what was happening on the phone. Then the man extorted money from him and forced him to meet, threatening to show the video to his mother.

After a scandal in his family caused by his orientation, he had to go to Saint Petersburg to a friend. In January 2021, his aunt contacted him and asked for help, but after arriving, Magomed was lured into a car and taken to the rehabilitation centre (rehab) in Khasavyurt.

There, Magomed was handcuffed; he slept and even went to toilet in them. According to his story, the people who were kept there were poorly fed' and physical and psychological torture was used for violations of numerous rules. One of the most difficult was "hanging" in handcuffs on the window bars.

Magomed stayed in the rehab from January to August 2021. He was taken away after the man who conducted his treatment quitted. Magomed managed to contact the "SK SOS" Crisis Group, pick up his documents and escaped to Moscow.

"During these seven months of 'treatment', my teeth collapsed, asthma appeared and panic attacks began," Magomed has stated.