When 23-year-old Aishat Baimuradova fled her home earlier this year, she believed she finally had a chance to live the way she wanted.
Coming from Chechnya, a conservative Muslim republic in Russia, she cut her hair short, stopped covering her head, shaved off part of her eyebrow and posted quirky selfies on Instagram.
She told her new friends she could finally breathe.
In October, Aishat was found dead in a rented flat in neighboring Armenia. Police say she was murdered.
Two people were seen leaving the building where she was found, including a woman Aishat had befriended not long before her death. Both reportedly left for Russia soon afterwards.
Russians do not need a passport to enter Armenia; their internal ID is enough. That also makes it an easy route for anyone trying to flee.
Chechnya, in Russia's North Caucasus, is often described by rights groups as a state within a state - a place where power is highly personalized with loyalty to long-standing leader Ramzan Kadyrov often overriding laws and formal institutions.
For years, human rights organizations have documented enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings in the republic, as well as systematic persecution of those who dissent.
Chechen officials have consistently denied these allegations, complaining of fabrications aimed at discrediting the region.
Several high-profile critics of Chechen authorities have been killed abroad. Aishat Baimuradova is the first known Chechen woman to have died in suspicious circumstances not long after fleeing Russia.
Like many other women who escape the region, she had complained of being controlled by her family. She said she was forced into a marriage, monitored, and barred from leaving home or using her phone. The BBC was not able to reach her family for a comment.
Aishat had received assistance from SK-SOS, a crisis group that helps individuals facing danger in the North Caucasus. She had openly criticized conservative gender rules and the suffocating control women face in Chechnya.
During her time in Armenia, Aishat sought a better job and more opportunities. Her openness contrasted with the typical behavior of other escapees who often resort to using false names and avoiding social interaction.
Her family, after initially trying to convince her to return, subsequently disowned her, indicating she was no longer their daughter or wife.
On the night of her death, Aishat was with a woman she had met online, who then invited her to parties. CCTV footage showed a man leaving the premises who is suspected to have connections to Chechen political figures.
The investigation into her murder continues, with Armenian authorities looking into two unnamed suspects. Amid allegations, Chechen officials have denied any involvement, decrying accusations as a terrorist information attack.
This tragedy has reignited fear among other Chechen women who have successfully fled, highlighting the pervasive control and dangers they face, even after escaping their home environments.
