Lawyers assess prospects for charges against Leyla Gireeva

The accusations of a theft brought by relatives often fail to reach the court and return the runaway girls back into families. But in the case of Leyla Gireeva, a native of Ingushetia, such a charge could become an obstacle for the girl to go abroad, lawyers and human rights defenders have pointed out.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the 18-year-old Leyla Gireeva asked to be protected from her relatives, who, as she claims, could cripple or kill her.

"According to Leyla, her mother had invented the charges in order to return her home. She denies the theft," Alexandra Miroshnikova, the spokeswoman for the SK SOS Crisis Group, has stated.

The accusation of theft often serves as a formal reason for the search for adult girls and women who have run away from home, says Svetlana Anokhina, the founder of the "Marem" human rights group. She does not recall cases when relatives managed to achieve the return of fugitives with the help of theft charges.

"About a dozen cases are known when adult runaways were returned home. In one case, an underage girl was killed after being returned to her parents. There is another case when a girl ran away, hid, but a few months later she was found and killed," said Saida Sirazhudinova, the president of the Centre for Studying Global Contemporary Issues and Regional Problems "Caucasus. World. Development".

In general, according to her story, relatives very often managed to return the runaway girls home. "About five or ten years ago, there were few successful escapes. Now, there are much more of them due to the fact that there is more information about help from well-known human rights defenders; and fugitives often find help," she said.

A criminal case may prevent Gireeva from leaving Russia, Zakhar Lebedev, a lawyer, has noted.