Human rights defenders report about kidnapping of Krasnodar resident from shelter

A resident of Krasnodar, who complained about violence in the family of a native of Chechnya, stopped communicating with her friends and acquaintances after her husband with his accomplices kidnapped her from a shelter, human rights defenders reported.

33-year-old Maria Smelaya was staying in a shelter for women who fell victim to domestic violence. Earlier, Maria Smelaya asked human rights defenders to protect her from her husband, who, according to the woman, beat her, took her to the forest, and threatened her with violence when she was pregnant with their son, the “Caucasus Without a Mother” human rights project reports.

On May 7, the human rights defenders helped place the victim in a safe place “located outside the Krasnodar Territory.” However, Maria’s husband together with his accomplices broke into the apartment where the woman and the child stayed and took her back to the Krasnodar Territory.

“Now Maria is not in touch. After the Maria’s kidnapping, in a phone conversation with an activist of the shelter, [Maria’s husband] threatened her with raping,” claims the “Caucasus Without a Mother” human rights project in its Telegram channel.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that the problem of the safety of shelters remains unresolved, especially in Northern Caucasus, activists of non-governmental organizations stated in September 2023. Earlier, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recognized violations of the rights of the women who stayed in a shelter in Makhachkala when law enforcers took Khalimat Taramova, a native of Chechnya, away from it.