Rights defenders treat life threat to Dagestani woman who left Russia as real

Relatives repeatedly beat up Patimat Idrisova, a native of Dagestan, and threatened her with murder; therefore, her escape became a chance to save her life, the SK SOS* crisis group has informed. Even after she left Moscow, her relatives tried to find Idrisova, Svetlana Anokhina, a journalist, has explained.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Patimat Idrisova, a woman from Dagestan, told that she was exposed to domestic violence and forced medical treatment. The first time she managed to escape, her relatives found and abducted her. With the help of human rights defenders, she managed to escape the country and change her name.

"Her sister's husband pointed a pistol at her, when he took her to an exorcist. She said that she would not wear a headscarf, and that she did not like Islam. And then he said that she would not return home," Ms Anokhina has added.

The need for treatment by exorcists was due to the prejudices of the Patimat's relatives, who treated any deviation from generally accepted norms as "problems with genies." "They didn't know about her homosexuality; now after the publication they already know," the journalist has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported about other cases when relatives tried to return home the women who had run away from domestic violence. Thus, in June 2021, the 22-year-old Khalimat Taramova was abducted by law enforcers from a shelter in Makhachkala and returned to Chechnya.