On January 15, the group Marem reported that 21-year-old Ingushetia resident Aina Mankieva had been detained in Moscow. She had previously fled her family, where she says she was subjected to violence. After leaving the republic, she lived in a Moscow shelter. Her father, Khambor Mankiev, told journalists that law enforcement agencies and influential people in Ingushetia had been involved in the search for her.
At first, her parents had her declared wanted as a missing person. Later, after she obtained a new passport, opened an account at a Moscow bank, and began receiving her social payments and disability pension there, her mother accused her of stealing 20,000 rubles. According to rights defenders, pressure intensified after that.
When Moscow police detained Aina, they took her statement in the theft case and also recorded her complaint of abuse by relatives, including physical and sexualized violence. She was then released. After 20 days, investigators in Ingushetia opened a case based on her complaint, while the theft case against her was dropped for lack of corpus delicti.
Novaya Gazeta Europe places this case in the context of an Ad Rem report titled “Persecution Instead of Protection.” The study, led by sociologist Kulsam Magomadova, covers 75 cases from 2018 to 2025. Of them, 46 were from Chechnya, 13 from Ingushetia, 12 from Dagestan, 1 from North Ossetia, and 3 from other Russian regions.
The authors say that in all these stories, institutions with coercive powers were involved. Police are mentioned in 47 of 75 cases, and the Investigative Committee in 24. Courts, guardianship bodies, bailiffs, and the muftiate are also cited. The researchers conclude that state institutions often do not protect women, but instead help families locate them, pressure them, and force them to return.