Aishat Baimuradova’s Unclaimed Life Ends in Armenia’s Silent Morgue

A 23-year-old Chechen woman, Aishat Baimuradova, was brutally murdered in Yerevan last year. Her body remained unclaimed in the city’s morgue for over three months. Now, she has been buried without ceremony or notice.

Investigators named two suspects in her killing: a woman from Kyrgyzstan and a man from Chechnya. Yet, despite their efforts, no family members came forward to claim her remains.

Aishat Baimuradova fled Chechnya after years of abuse. From the age of four, she suffered physical and sexual violence at the hands of her father and grandfather. Later, she escaped a forced marriage.

Like many Chechen women, she sought refuge in Armenia, where Russian passport holders face no visa restrictions. Once there, she applied for asylum at the German Embassy—but her request was rejected. Her body was kept in Yerevan’s morgue, a place lined with small refrigerated compartments. Only officials are allowed inside, and the names of the dead are rarely spoken. Armenian authorities searched for her family in Chechnya for months but found no one. On January 24, 2026, she was buried as an unclaimed body. Armenian law enforcement had refused to release her remains for months, leaving her case unresolved.

Aishat Baimuradova’s burial marks the end of a long wait in the morgue. Her murder remains under investigation, with two suspects identified but no trial yet in sight. The circumstances of her death—and the silence surrounding it—reflect the struggles of many women who flee violence only to find little protection abroad.