YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — More than three weeks after the murder of a young Chechen woman who had fled to Armenia to escape domestic violence, activists are demanding answers from Armenian law enforcement authorities, accusing them of stalling the investigation and allowing the suspects to leave the country.
Aishat Baymuradova, 23, was found dead in a rented apartment in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on October 20, three days after she was reported missing. Human rights activists, who believe she was likely strangled, demand answers from Armenian authorities over what they describe as an apparent transnational “honor killing.” They suspect involvement of individuals linked to Chechen security structures.
Alipat Sultanbekova, a Russian activist who moved to Armenia to escape prosecution for allegedly discrediting the Russian army following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Baymuradova had met online with a woman later revealed to have ties to people close to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. After meeting that woman and a man one evening, Baymuradova disappeared, she said.
Security camera footage reportedly captured several people entering the building, including a Chechen man who, according to unconfirmed reports, had previously been accused of financing the Islamic State militant group.
Sultanbekova said this is the first known case of a Chechen woman being killed abroad after fleeing domestic violence. “Usually, the relatives or Chechen security agents take such women back home, where they are killed later,” she said.
“In Chechnya, if a family member is seen as having brought shame on the family, they are killed in what’s called an ‘honor killing.’ The same happened to Aishat,” the activist said, adding that Baymuradova had fled after being separated from her child, who remained with the father in Chechnya.
