Russias Interior Ministry has issued a missing persons report for a woman who was forcibly taken to the republic of Chechnya nearly two years ago, the exiled news outlet Mediazona reported Monday.Seda Suleimanova, 28, fled Chechnya in October 2022 after relatives allegedly threatened to kill her for refusing an arranged marriage.
In August 2023, she was abducted from her apartment in St.
Petersburg by Russian police officers and unidentified Chechen men and forcibly returned to her family.Suleimanova has not been heard of since then.
Federal investigators launched a criminal inquiry into her disappearance in April 2024 and later handed the case over to law enforcement authorities in Chechnya.On Monday, Russias Interior Ministry added her to its missing persons database, Mediazona reported.Some fear Suleimanova may have been killed in a so-called honor killing a practice in which family members, typically men, murder women for allegedly bringing shame to the family.
The practice is known to occur in the Muslim-majority North Caucasus, particularly in Chechnya, though the exact number of victims is unknown due to the secrecy surrounding such cases.According to the human rights group SK SOS, which had helped Suleimanova flee Chechnya in 2022, her relatives told investigators that she fled their home again in February 2024.
However, the group said those same relatives did not file a missing persons report after that alleged disappearance.SK SOS has launched a petition calling for federal authorities to take over the investigation from Chechen law enforcement.