Activists accuse Armenia of stalling probe into Chechen woman’s murder

YEREVAN, Armenia (MNTV) — Human rights activists have accused Armenian authorities of delaying the investigation into the killing of a young Chechen woman who fled to Armenia to escape domestic violence, saying officials have failed to detain suspects who may have already left the country.

The body of Aishat Baymuradova, 23, was found on October 20 in a rented apartment in Yerevan, three days after she was reported missing. Activists say she was likely strangled in what they describe as an “honor killing” possibly linked to Chechen security networks.

Alipat Sultanbekova, a Russian activist living in Armenia, told RFE/RL that Baymuradova met online with a woman later revealed to have ties to people close to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. She said Baymuradova disappeared after meeting the woman and a man one evening in Yerevan.

Security camera footage reportedly showed several people entering the building that night, including a Chechen man previously accused of financing the Islamic State group. No suspects have been named or charged.

Sultanbekova said it was the first known case of a Chechen woman being killed abroad after fleeing domestic abuse. “Usually, relatives or Chechen security agents take such women back home, where they are killed later,” she said.

According to media reports, Baymuradova was related to the Kadyrov family through her grandmother and had suffered abuse in an arranged marriage. Friends said she was frequently locked inside her home and denied access to her phone.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee confirmed that a criminal case had been opened but declined to provide details. Ani Chatinian, legal coordinator at the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office, which represents witnesses, said the case was “90 percent solved” and urged authorities to act swiftly.

Sultanbekova and other activists have called for an international search for the suspects and criticized the Armenian government for its silence. “A terrible crime happened in your country,” she told demonstrators at a November 4 rally in Yerevan. “Foreigners tied to Chechen security services should not act here with impunity.”

Baymuradova’s body remains in Yerevan and has not been buried, according to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

The case has drawn comparisons to that of Fatima Zurabova, another woman from Russia’s North Caucasus who fled to Armenia last year after alleged domestic violence. Rights groups say women escaping abuse in Chechnya and neighboring regions are often tracked down and forced to return home, where they risk being killed in so-called “honor crimes.”