Murder of Dorgeli woman raises issue of domestic violence in Northern Caucasus

A 21-year-old female resident of the Dagestan village of Dorgeli has died from multiple stab wounds; her husband was detained on suspicion of committing the murder. Social media users have pointed to an increased number of victims of domestic violence in the republic, and also recalled the case of Madina Umaeva, who died in Gudermes.

In the Dagestani village of Dorgeli, a 21-year-old local resident has been detained on suspicion of killing his 21-year-old wife. On December 9, she was delivered to the Dorgeli medical centre with multiple stab wounds in the face, neck, and back, from which she died, reports the website of the Investigating Department (ID) for Dagestan of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

Let us remind you that on June 12, 2020, Madina Umaeva, a 23-year-old wife of a local resident, mother of three children, died in his house in the city of Gudermes. Contrary to Islamic traditions, she was buried at night. After reports in social networks that she fell victim to domestic violence, her mother achieved exhumation of the body and stated that she saw bruises on her daughter's body. According to Madina's mother, the family quarrel occurred because of her daughter's purchase of a TV-set for the child allowance. The mother-in-law of the deceased later confirmed that she had expressed her dissatisfaction to the daughter-in-law with this purchase.

Without waiting for the results of the medical examination, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, met with the relatives of the deceased woman; and the mother apologized for her words about the violent death of her daughter. On June 30, 2020, a video message from a woman was posted with a request not to spread the version about the violent death of her daughter.