Girl of 12, who disappeared in Makhachkala, returns to family, but poorly recalls what happened to her

Ruzana Ivanova, 12, whose disappearance in Makhachkala was earlier declared by her mother Elena Ivanova, a resident of Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Territory, returned to her relatives at night on November 17, having managed to escape from her kidnappers. Her relatives are dissatisfied with the progress of the investigation.

"Ruzana managed to escape from the house, where, as we assume, she was kept by her kidnappers," Natalia Ivanova, Ruzana's aunt, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to her story, Ruzana managed to escape, when "the people who kept her were celebrating something." The girl's relatives suggest that kidnappers were celebrating Kurban Bayram.

Together with Ruzana, as reported by her aunt, several more girls of approximately same age were kept in the house. "As Ruzana recalled, her hair was repainted; they forced her to smoke and wear high-heeled shoes," the aunt added. She did not rule out that the girl was raped. "There was a moment, when she was given to some man," she added.

However, according to Natalia Ivanova, they could not restore the full picture of what happened in that place from the girl's story. "Out of seven days that she spent there, she could recall only four - mainly in fragments. She could recall nothing about the first three days at all," said the woman.

At night on November 17, after the girl returned to her relatives, the Ivanov family left Makhachkala for Nevinnomyssk, as Natalia Ivanova said. Currently, according to her story, the girl has already received psychological help, but, according to relatives, it's not sufficient.

Natalia Ivanova also finds the actions of law enforcement bodies of Dagestan on the application of Ruzana's mother unsatisfactory. "They just call from there with threats and ask to come and give evidences; otherwise, they say, 'we'll come, find and deliver all the same'," she said. On this occasion, the aunt of the suffered girl wrote a letter to the President of Dagestan, in which she expressed, according to her story, "indignation with the actions of law enforcers."

The operative agent of the Dagestani militia, who, as Ruzana's aunt said, dealt with the girl's mother's disappearance application, has denied the data that the Ivanovs are under pressure. "When I heard about this incident, I myself initiated a meeting with her mother (in Makhachkala, - note of the "Caucasian Knot"). Why should I press her, if I don't have the materials of the case," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. After the girl returned home, Ruzana's mother, as the detective said, refused to talk to him on the phone; and he failed to reach other relatives of the girl.

The operative agent also mentioned that the girl's mother suspected Gypsies "who are trafficking in humans" of abducting her daughter.

The employee of the Dagestani ICPO, who, according to some sources, is considering the materials of the case, refused to make comments on the progress of investigation, referring to the regulations on presenting information to media, which prohibit giving data over the phone.

The office of the Dagestani Ombudsman, where Ruzana's mother had addressed, when the girl was still missing, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told that the mother's application was accepted, and the situation would be "traced".