Aishat Baimuradova's case became an example of "honor killing."

Ayshat Baimuradova, a native of Chechnya, who was found in Yerevan with signs of violent death, was the victim of a so-called "honor killing," human rights activists believe. Baimuradova's case has become a precedent in their practice, as Ayshat was killed in the country where she sought protection.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," 23-year-old Ayshat Baimuradova, a native of Chechnya who fled to Armenia with the help of human rights activists and had gone intocommunication, was found dead in a rented apartment on October 19. Two days earlier, Baimuradova's friends reported that she failed to return from a walk on the evening of October 15th, when she went to meet a friend.

Friends of Aishat Baimuradova, who went for a walk with a new friend on the evening of October 15th, spent about a day trying to find her before they publicly announced her disappearance.

"This friend rented an apartment and invited her there. On the evening of the 15th, she stopped communicating, and by the 16th, her friends had raised the alarm—not yet in the media, but simply filing a missing person report with the police. The police began searching, and by the 17th, we decided to publish the information everywhere. The police located the apartment, which was rented out daily, went in with the owners, and, unfortunately, they found her already dead. "Apparently, she was there all this time," a Russian activist living in Armenia, who wished to remain anonymous, told the "Caucasian Knot."

According to the activist, Armenian human rights activists were notified of the girl's disappearance on October 17. "They also contacted the police. It was already known that she had not crossed the border, since she would have been noticed if she had. Unfortunately, none of this was of any use. Armenian human rights activists were very active in helping her; they were very involved in this case, and thanks to them, thanks to their inquiries, and thanks to inquiries from Armenian media, everything happened so quickly. We, her friends and neighbors, received information from official sources thanks to them," he stated.

The head of the organization "Caucasus without a Mother" Lidiya Mikhalchenko expressed confidence that Aishat Baimuradova was a victim of the so-called "Honor killings." "This isn't the first case of murder - and apparently, a so-called 'honor killing' - but it is the first known case of such a murder of a girl who was seeking protection outside the country. This murder was planned in advance, and the accomplice was a girl Aishat met through Instagram*," she told the "Caucasian Knot." According to Mikhalchenko, this girl, known to Aishat's acquaintances as "Karina," sometimes also introduced herself as "Jamila."

The coordinator of "Motherless Caucasus" for Dagestan and Chechnya shares Mikhalchenko's opinion on the motives for Baimuradova's murder. "We have before us a classic example of 'honor killings.' They don't stop or disappear from practice in the region; they are only becoming more sophisticated and organized, more planned and more brazen. They are committed by a group of people. Confirmation that we are indeed dealing with an 'honor killing' is the fact that Aishat was found and killed. As I feared, they killed her in a hurry, immediately after she was discovered. This isn't the first time a runaway has been rushed to death. Yes, there was no provocation; no one caught her with a man; she simply wanted to live independently and without violence. But for them, this too was a violation of honor and, as the courts have interpreted it, "immoral behavior." Such murders remain part of criminal practice in the region, despite all our efforts to prevent them; they remain widespread in the region. Our reports only use confirmed and proven cases, but many more are concealed," she emphasized. Alexandra Miroshnikova, press secretary of the "Crisis Group SK SOS"*, also noted that such murders are relatively rare on foreign soil. "In our cases, when runaway girls were found, it was usually primarily a matter of forced returns. After such returns, the girls could be killed, "But this usually happens at home. In this case, we assume that these could not have been relatives, but people acting in the interests of Kadyrov's men. These could have been people who were simply offended by something Aishat said. Until there is precise data from the Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is difficult to say what exactly happened to her, but this case is exceptional in that Chechen girls are rarely killed on foreign soil – usually they are returned home and killed at home," she emphasized.

Miroshnikova noted that the clients of the crisis group observe all possible security measures after evacuation. "But, of course, we cannot control people when they leave the program and begin an independent life. We can give them advice, and that's what we do: we give them advice, instructions for a specific situation, why this or that is not the right thing to do – but then they make their own decisions, and no human rights organization can ensure a person's safety throughout their entire life. One way or another, a person's safety is, first and foremost, their responsibility, so it is unlikely that the current security measures for the clients in the program... "These protocols may be further strengthened. Of course, in some cases we use stricter protocols, but they already exist, these protocols, they have been refined. So far, this is not the case that makes us think about changing security protocols," she concluded.

Acquaintances of Baimuradova noted that Aishat was active on social media, posting her photos and readily engaging with new acquaintances. Online, the girl even "engaged in heated arguments" with Kadyrov's defenders and with those who insulted other fugitives from the North Caucasus, the Cherta project notes.

"Caucasian Knot" also wrote about Chechen native Seda Suleimanova, who was detained in St. Petersburg in August 2023 and taken against her will to live with relatives in Chechnya. Since then, no news has been received from the girl. Her friends and human rights activists believe she was the victim of such a so-called "honor killings" and demand an investigation. On June 16, it became known that Suleimanova had been put on the wanted list, but human rights activists considered her search to be a sham, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "The Kidnapping of Seda Suleimanova".

* are included in the register of foreign agents.

** The activities of Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.