Human rights activists learned that Sedu Sulemainova could have been killed by relatives

26-year-old Seda Suleymanova, who was forcibly returned to Chechnya after escaping from her family, could have been killed by relatives, reports the SK SOS Crisis Group, citing two independent sources in the republic.

Human rights activists received information about a possible “honor killing” in early February. On February 6, they filed statements with the Investigative Committee and the prosecutor's office and demanded that this information be verified.

In August 2023, security forces detained Seda in St. Petersburg, where she lived with her partner, took her to the airport and sent her to Chechnya. Soon, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Chechnya, Mansur Soltaev, published a photo of Seda in a long dress and headscarf with the caption “Seda Suleymanova is not in danger, she is safe.”

It is unclear where the photo was taken and what condition the girl was in. Soltaev argued that she felt well, her rights were not violated and she was not in danger.

Seda contacted the SOS Crisis Group in October 2022. According to human rights activists, she feared that she would be killed because her relatives considered her not religious enough:

The family forced her to follow local customs and wanted to marry her off, and threatened her with “honor killing” for disobedience.

She managed to leave Chechnya and settle in St. Petersburg. However, in February 2023, her brother found her in the cafe where she worked. The crisis group published a recording of their conversation, in which the man says to Seda: “You disgrace us with this act <...> Wherever you move, we will involve the local law enforcement agencies, or the Moscow ones - it doesn’t matter, we will find you anyway.” Then Seda managed to escape from his brother. After that, she changed her job, place of residence and phone number.

At the end of last year, the prosecutor's office began an investigation into Seda's forced return to Chechnya, but its results were not reported.

“Kosa” told how other cases ended when girls from the North Caucasus who fled from violence were returned home.