Muslim Women Denied Custody Rights After Remarriage in a Region of Russia

Muslim women in a region of Russia lose their custody rights and maternal rights after remarriage due to the court's adherence to local customs. A Russian woman named Sant (a pseudonym to protect her identity) lost custody of her 12-year-old twins following a lawsuit from her ex-husband after she remarried. Last year, the family court in Ingushetia, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus, ruled in favor of a father who stated he did not want a stepfather raising his children. Sant's case is not an exception in a region with a predominantly Muslim population where children are considered 'property and assets' of the father and paternal family. These local customs contradict Russian laws, but family court judges in these areas predominantly follow local traditions and strip custody rights from women who are widowed, divorced, or intend to remarry. Over 95% of the population in Ingushetia are Sunni Shafi'i Muslims. During court sessions, Sant stated that the judge and her ex-husband's lawyer explicitly told her she had no right to have children because she was determined to marry another man. Sant said, 'My ex-husband has a new wife, and no one has told him that a stepmother cannot raise our children.' This 31-year-old woman mentioned that she was told that unlike a mother's remarriage, a father's remarriage poses no issues because it is the father who must raise his children. The court allowed this mother to meet her daughter once a week and her son once a month. However, according to her, her ex-husband often prevents these visits. Sant's ex-husband has also sued her in court, demanding 26,000 rubles (approximately $260) per month in alimony. According to official statistics from the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia, the average monthly salary in Ingushetia is 39,000 rubles (approximately $380). A family lawyer stated that if a woman intends to remarry, she hands the winning card to her ex-husband's lawyer. The exact number of women who have had to relinquish their maternal rights to their ex-husbands is unclear, but it is no secret that this has become customary in Ingushetia. In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights mandated Russian authorities to restore the maternal rights of a Chechen woman named Louisa Tapayeva, whose four young children were raised in their paternal grandfather's home after their father's death. Tapayeva's father-in-law told her that her children 'belong to the paternal family.' After repeatedly having her complaints rejected in Russian courts, Tapayeva appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. The court's ruling stated that it had examined multiple cases related to children's rights in the autonomous republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia in Russia. A family lawyer, who requested anonymity, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that many judges in Chechnya and Ingushetia are influenced by 'local traditions' and are willing to ignore Russian state laws. According to this family lawyer, if a woman intends to remarry, she hands the winning card to her ex-husband's lawyer. Many local jurists say that it is better for mothers to continue raising their children even after divorce unless they intend to remarry. However, these local jurists state that the father must be responsible for the financial support of his children even if he lives separately. A family lawyer who spoke with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty stated, 'When I hear such arguments, I tell them we are dealing with a non-religious court that does not accept Islamic laws.' This lawyer said, 'I often hear from fathers that it is not our tradition for our children to be raised in a stepfather's home, but when I ask them if it is our tradition for the mother to pay for the children, they have no answer to my question.'