Police in the Armenian city of Ashtarak have detained a 21-year-old woman who fled her native region of Ingushetia in Russia's North Caucasus to escape domestic violence, Russian women's rights defender Svetlana Anokhina told RFE/RL on November 15.
According to Anokhina, Armenian police subsequently transferred Fatima Zurabova to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, where they confiscated her telephone and told her that she was suspected of an unspecified crime in Ingushetia and will be deported back to Russia.
Anokhina added that Zurabova's uncle and another person appeared at the police station in Yerevan and the police left Zurabova in a room with the two men, who demanded she return to Ingushetia.
Zurabova tried to explain to the Armenian police that she needs their help and protection from her relatives, adding that she fled Ingushetia to escape the domestic violence she regularly faced, but the police said that since the alleged crime was committed in Russia, they couldn't help her.
Anokhina also said that Zurabova refused to leave the police station, fearing that she would be immediately taken back to Ingushetia by her relatives.
"All her rights were blatantly violated -- they locked her in a room with her uncle, while she begged them not to do so, confiscated her telephone, did not allow her lawyer to meet her," Anokhina said.
Anokhina's Marem human rights group helped Zurabova flee to Armenia on November 8 after the woman asked for assistance in late September, saying that she was regularly beaten at home for "behavior that did not correspond to the traditional Ingush society," namely for having her own opinion on different issues.
SEE ALSO: Woman Fleeing Domestic Violence Missing After Being Forcibly Returned To ChechnyaDomestic violence has been a problem in Russia's mostly Muslim-populated North Caucasus region for decades. Victims who manage to flee often say that they may face "punishment," including "honor killings," if they are forced to return.
Human right defenders say families in the North Caucasus often file complaints, accusing fugitive women of crimes, usually theft, to legalize their detainment and return to their relatives. Once back, the women face violent abuse.
Local authorities usually take the side of the alleged abusers.