Russian programmer saved a young Ingush “runaway” from the torture of relatives: “I hope they don’t kill”

On November 14, Leila Gireeva escaped from Nazran (Ingushetia), where she lived with her family, and ended up with the help of her mysterious savior, programmer Vladislav, in a rented apartment in St. Petersburg.

Earlier, the girl circulated a video on the Web, where she says that she left home voluntarily and begs not to extradite her to her relatives, who, as she says, will again beat her and drug her with pills “to cure her of atheism.”

We got acquainted with the explanation that the girl wrote to her lawyer, who she already had in St. Petersburg. In it, Layla claims that “her parents took her to people who beat her with a stick and hurt her.” “My father beat me for wanting to change my profession at the end of October and locked me at home against my will,” says the girl. “Mom said that she didn’t care about my feelings, my desires, and that she would come up with an accusation and bring me back by force.” Also, according to the girl, her parents wrote to her “threats that they would kill, strangle and bury like a dog.”

Vladislav Khorev, a “simple programmer” from St. Petersburg who helps Leila, agreed to answer questions from MK.

How did you meet Layla? Why did they suddenly start helping her?

I helped because I can’t help it. I’m an indifferent person. I am not a member of any human rights organization. Instead, I donate money to these organizations whenever possible. Before that, at the end of 2020, I helped another girl – Milana Magomedova. And now Leila contacted me, having learned from the Internet about the story with Milana. She found me on social media and texted me.

Help “MK”. Vladislav Khorev is a programmer for one of the international IT companies, lives in St. Petersburg, develops mobile applications and games in his spare time. He is the author of the game, where the main character, a Russian guy, helps Dagestani Aliya escape from the pressure of her parents. On November 24, 2020, the game was released, and two weeks later a girl named Milana Magomedova wrote to him. She, like the heroine of the game, planned to escape from her home. So Vladislav himself got into the plot of his game.

– This is an amazing story! How did Milana come to you?

– She had a friend who played computer games, and he told her: “Look, they made a game about you!” After that, Milan contacted me. When she asked for help, I decided: “Well, let’s act like in a game.” And the situation did not seem so complicated: the girl did not live somewhere in a mountain village, but in Tyumen, in a Russian city, and I just decided to help her move to another, safe place.

At first, Milana and Vladislav planned to fly to Turkey so that her relatives would not find her, but in the end they settled on St. Petersburg, Vladislav’s hometown. There he rented an apartment for Milana, and the girl wrote an explanation to the police that she was all right. Later, relatives met with her by deceit and nevertheless returned the fugitive home. She ran away again. Vladislav helped her this time, too, by organizing a move to another Russian city. “Ultimately, Milana’s story ended well for her – she left Russia, began to live an independent life,” says Vladislav.

– So, following the example of Milana, another girl has now turned to you with a similar request. How are you helping her?

– Leila wrote to me when she was still at home in Nazran. I agreed to help her, paid the expenses – for the road to St. Petersburg and for housing.

– How did she get into the police, what was all the telegram channels buzzing about on November 23?

– She called me and said that they were rushing to her apartment, that her relatives somehow “figured out” her. I informed her lawyer about this, and we went to her together. And when they arrived, the police were already there. I did not see relatives, but perhaps they were somewhere nearby. She was taken to the department for a showdown, as her relatives accused her under article 158 “theft”. They took me too. Three hours later I was released, and Leyla after 8 hours. Layla is fine now. But for her safety, I can’t give you the details.

Do you also pay for a lawyer?

– Yes. This lawyer was recommended to us and he does a great job.

But how long will she hide? How can she get a job, what can she live on? You can’t help her forever, can you?

“I will help as much as needed. I will try my best to protect her. Danger won’t stop me. While it is not clear what will happen, I am going to act according to the circumstances. I hope that, thanks to the publicity, nothing will be done to her by her relatives.

“Aren’t you afraid of her family?”

– I’m not afraid of them.

Several crisis organizations also take an active part in the fate of Leyla, we learned other details from them.

“First, Leyla turned to a center that helps women fleeing domestic violence. And we started to help her on November 23 – after her relatives started pounding at her door in the evening, – Alexandra Miroshnikova, press secretary of the SOS crisis group, told MK. – How they found her apartment in St. Petersburg is a mystery. But, as Leyla told us, her uncle is an active police major in Ingushetia, and her father is a retired policeman. Leila called the police, after which she was taken to the police station. When we learned about her detention, we began to provide her with legal support.

The reason for the detention was a “search”, which was initiated by relatives. The lawyer was not shown either the record of the detention or the statement about the theft. We have not seen the documents and therefore cannot confirm that these allegations even exist. As a result, Leyla was released without a protocol with the words: “Deal with relatives yourself.” As we know from the words of the girl, her mother threatened to write a statement against her, accusing her of stealing 250 thousand rubles. We do not rule out that such a statement really exists. In this case, she may face unfair accusations made up in order to return her home. Now our lawyers are trying to find out what risks exist for Leyla.

After the girl was released from the department, she recorded a video with the words: “Thanks to the publicity, they didn’t give me to my relatives, they took fingerprints in the department, kept me there, but nevertheless they let me go, I thank you all!”.

About how dangerous the situation is, say the comments of users, because among them there are not only friendly, but, for example, such: “Shame on the Caucasus and Muslims! I wish patience to parents and brothers! I hope you will be found and dealt with in a manner appropriate to your act! “This girl will get hers, you’ll see. And everyone who helped her in this will also get what they deserve!

“At the moment, we are ensuring the safety of the girl and providing her with legal support,” Alexandra Miroshnikova told us.

– How do you assess the situation with Leila?

– Such situations should not be. Law enforcement agencies have a duty to stop cases of domestic violence and protect victims. Unfortunately, often women are left without any help, support and hope for justice: they do not know where they can go and who to turn to. If women come to us in a difficult situation, we certainly try to help them. Sometimes evacuation to a safer region is the solution, but sometimes, as in the case of Layla, relatives continue to harass the girls even after they have left the house.