Chechen residents concerned with the murder of seven young women

The murder of seven young women whose bodies were found last week in different districts of Chechnya has caused concern among many Chechen residents. While the investigation of the incidents continues, residents of the republic propose various opinions on their possible causes.

The series of murders raised a wave of various rumors and guesses in Chechnya. Some people allege that the number of young women killed during this period is several scores and that certain women owned haunts where they engaged in prostitution.

The main case taken by the investigation that it was lynching of the young women for improper behavior, committed by their close relatives, can not be accepted with regard to all seven victims. It is the opinion of many Chechen residents with whom the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent spoke on the subject.

"I doubt very much that the relatives of six or seven young women have simultaneously decided to punish them for immoral behavior. It just does not happen. They may kill them and secretly bury in some unknown grave or say that they had left for some distant relatives or abroad, or yet announce that they had suddenly died, but they would not kill them and leave their bodies in different locations. It is clear that in the majority of cases, if not in all cases, there was some group of actors ", claims Adilbek Isaev, resident of Grozny.

Natalia Estemirova, employee of the human rights center "Memorial", also doubts that immoral behavior of the young women was the cause of their death. "I do not think that we can talk about immoral behavior of the victims. For instance, Koban and Madina Elsaevs are the wives of two brothers, very respectable women, they had two children each. One of them resided in Stavropol region and came here as a guest. The Elsaevs are indignant that such information is disseminated", explains Estemirova.

"The other murdered girls worked in cafes, they never walked on the roads, as some people hint. There is no connection with the Chechen traditions whatsoever. If the relatives suddenly find out that a Chechen woman behaves immorally they deal with her inside the family and carefully keep it in secret so that not a shadow falls on their young female relatives. Moreover, Petimat Magomedova, one of the victims, is a Daghestani and has nothing to do with Chechen traditions", added the human rights activist.