Azerbaijani activists announce Ismailova’s escape from home

Sevgiya Ismailova, an eighteen-year-old Russian citizen, has escaped from her relatives in Azerbaijan, who held her by force; now, she is under the care of local activists. The girl’s mother denies violence against her.

A report on the forced detention in Baku of the 18-year-old Ismailova was posted on the Facebook on January 14. Khalida Gadir, an Azerbaijani social network user distributed a screenshot of an email message addressed to the Russian Embassy in Baku asking for help. The user indicates that she had received the screenshot from a friend of Ismailova. According to the report, Ismailova was born in Norilsk and is studying at the medical university of Krasnoyarsk. On January 4, her mother persuaded her to go to Azerbaijan on the condition that on January 14, she would return to Krasnoyarsk. However, her relatives took the documents away from her and burned them down, so she could not return, and beat her up because of her intention to return to Russia, the report says.

Ismailova managed to escape from her parents' house in Khyrdalan in the morning on January 16, local activists told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Now, she is in a safe place and receives the necessary help. As soon as her documents are ready, she will leave Azerbaijan," said the activist, who wished to remain anonymous.

Rasmiya Ismailova, the girl’s mother, has confirmed that the girl had left home.

"Sevgiya had psychological problems. I want my daughter to stay here, recover and then leave. I didn’t keep her by force; and I haven’t destroyed her passport," the woman told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 16, 2020 at 10:58 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.