Story of Derbent girl indicates legal gap in early marriage situation

Early marriages in Northern Caucasus are promoted by parents' poverty; and family members usually bear no responsibility under the law in such situations, said Saida Sirazhudinova, the head of the "Caucasus. World. Development" Centre for Studying Global Issues of Modernity and Regional Problems. Russian laws envision no punishments for forced marriages, said Marina Agaltsova, a lawyer at the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia), commenting on the situation with a minor girl from Derbent who had been held by Chechen law enforcers.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a woman from Derbent complained to Ramzan Kadyrov that her 14-year-old daughter had been kept at the division of some power structure in Grozny since October 13, 2020.

Upon her return to Derbent, the girl was handed over to her mother, said Shamil Khadulaev, a member of the Public Chamber of Dagestan.

Natalia Dobronravova, a lawyer of the Committee against Torture (CaT), believes that the girl was in danger at the law enforcers' division.

There are more and more such child marriages, said Saida Sirazhudinova. However, the problem is difficult to solve, since "there must be application lodged." It was possible to reveal the marriage with the Dagestani girl only because "the person with whom she lived occurred in such an extraordinary situation."

According to Ms Sirazhudinova, she has often faced cases when people, due to absence of money to maintain a girl, were ready to marry her off.