Human rights defenders report a threat to security of Dagestani native Elina Ukhmanova

Elina Ukhmanova, a resident of Dagestan, who claimed being persecuted for bisexuality and atheism, mentioned the parents’ plans to send her for treatment to the Chechen centre of Islamic medicine as the reason for her running away from home. The girl is now relatively safe, but the risk of her being kidnapped by the relatives remains, human rights defenders note.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Elina Ukhmanova filed a complaint to the police about the illegal restriction of freedom and torture in a rehabilitation centre in Makhachkala.

On July 23, 2021, Elina Ukhmanova was sent to the rehabilitation centre, and on November 23, 2021, her parents took the girl from there, reported Alexandra Miroshnikova, a representative of the “SK SOS Crisis Group”. The girl managed to escape from her relatives at night when they were sleeping.

Elina Ukhmanova said that she remained at home until August 11, 2022.

“They didn’t give me my mobile phone, and I didn’t have any connection with the outside world. For the last few months before running away, I woke up every day with the intention of escaping, but put it off because I was very frightened. Before running away, I found out that they wanted to send me to Chechnya, to the Islamic centre. I realized that I needed to act,” Elina Ukhmanova said.

Advocate Yevgeny Chernousov considers the actions of the rehabilitation centre employees against Elina Ukhmanova illegal. According to the advocate, it was illegal to keep Elina Ukhmanova there without a special medical certification and an approval from herself.

Domestic violence is not uncommon in the Caucasus, and running away from home is often the only way for young women to save their lives, say journalist Svetlana Anokhina and Saida Sirazhudinova, the president of the Centre for Research on Global Issues of the Present and Regional Problems “Caucasus. World. Development”.