Maria Smelaya, escapee from her Chechen husband, reports problems with inquiry into child kidnapping

The police refused to take an application about kidnapping of her child by her husband, a native of Chechnya Sh., but the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has got interested in the case, Maria Smelaya, a Krasnodar resident, has informed. Russia has no mechanism for returning a child stolen by one of the parents, a lawyer has pointed out.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 9, the human rights project "Caucasus without Mother" reported that Maria Smelaya, who had complained of violence from her husband, a native of Chechnya, stopped communicating after her husband kidnapped her and her child from a shelter. A few days later, Smelaya refuted the fact of beating. Later, she again turned to human rights defenders, explaining that she left her husband because he had got a new wife, Alina Alekseitseva, who also complained to human rights defenders that she their children were beaten up by the husband.

Maria Smelaya reported that when she came to the police to file an application, they told her that the father also has the right to the child, and refused to take the application.

According to her story, she had assumed that Sh. (the husband) was with Alekseitseva. "Maybe he keeps her as a hostage?" Maria has suggested. She also believes that Alekseitseva is afraid of Sh.

Marina Agaltsova, an advocate, has noted that there mother has few chances to return her child.