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'I gave birth to a monster', says mother of 'fashionable' female jihadist

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24 November 2015

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Shakhla Bochkaryova, 41: 'As painful as it is, I know I will never see her again.'  Picture: SITV

A Siberian mother has spoken of how she lost her glamour-conscious daughter to Islamic fanatics, despite once - in futile desperation - chaining her to a radiator to stop the 'brainwashed' 20 year old from joining a man aged almost 40 who had recruited her to his jihadist cause.

Fatima Dzhafarova grew up as an ordinary girl from Nizhne Sortymsky, a small town near the oil city of Surgut. Academically bright, she was one of 13 out of 800 applicants who won a free place at university: studying to become a linguist.

Her mother Shakhla Bochkaryova, 41, said: 'She would wear a red coat, short black skirt, and a white shirt. She always loved office style clothes. She didn't go for low neck, short clothes, jeans, this wasn't what she liked. Even to school she'd wear a suit, classic trousers, shirt. She wore make-up and looking after herself. 

Fatima Dzhafarova


Fatima Dzhafarova


Fatima Dzhafarova

Academically bright, she was one of 13 out of 800 applicants who won a free place at university: studying to become a linguist. Pictures: TV Rain

'She had a lot of cosmetics, jewellery. She had long hair and took care of it. She was very careful about her appearance and always wanted to look good.' Friends said she was a 'fashionable' dresser. 

Three months into her university course, her mother knew something had changed. She describes a transformation that many parents have witnessed in Western countries, too, which reaches the point where a helpless mother no longer knows her own daughter.

'She stopped communicating with me, didn't return my phone calls,' said Shakhla. She started to cover her head but initially her mother was more concerned about how she looked. 'She seemed ill,' she said, 'always tired, shadows under her eyes.'

In December 2103, after her first months at Surgut State University, she came home. She told her mother that she was becoming interested in Islam, which was not in itself surprising: she was from a Muslimm family, one her mother's side, though not one that was especially devout. Fatima refused to have anything to do with the New Year celebration, and took down the tree. 

Shakhla Bochkareva


Fatima Dzhafarova

'I looked at her and I could no longer see my child. She was simply a shell of my daughter, no soul, no thoughts, no heart.' Pictures: SITV, TV Rain

Like many Russian families, they marked the New Year as the time for giving presents. Previously Fatima had loved this time of year, a time for families to be together, a sacred moment for the vast majority of Russians. Then a teenager, she had young siblings, from a different father, who was Orthodox, and - as Shakhla recalled - there was a 'conflict' between mother and daughter over her attitude to the winter festivities. 

In April last year when she turned 19, Fatima ignored her mother's birthday wishes, and in May, Shakhla discovered she hadn't been at her studies for three months. 'I collected her clothes and belongings, took her home, all without saying a word,' she said. 'She dropped out of university. I told her to stay at home and look after children instead, cook and take care of the house, just stay at home.'

Map

Nizhne Sortymsky, a small town near the oil city of Surgut. Picture: The Siberian Times

At some point a man came to the door. He gave his name as Abdullah, though he was really called Rustam. He was around 36 but 'looked a lot older'. She said: 'He brought a bunch of flowers, and some candies for tea.' He told Shakhla: 'I want to marry your daughter.'

He explained he had already wed three wives, and each had three children. 'He told me he loved Fatima, and she loved him,' she said. 'One of his wives was pregnant  when he wanted to marry my daughter.' Shakhla refused to give her permission. For several months Fatima, now fuelled by hatred, remained at home, but police had identified Abdullah as a recruiter for the jihadists. 

Shakhla Bochkareva


Fatima Dzhafarova

'It's better not to live than to be the mother of a terrorist. Picture: SITV, TV Rain

'She told me: 'Our brothers will come and kill those like you, infidels. They'll cut heads with knives. And you know, my heart won't miss a beat.' Fatima 'started wearing a hijab, she only had thoughts about  doomsday... she lived at my expense but refused to work because it's a 'sin'.'

'I looked at her and I could no longer see my child. She was simply a shell of my daughter, no soul, no thoughts, no heart.' Desparate, fearful, Shakhla even chained her to the radiator... clinging to a vain hope that she could bring back the daughter who always loved to be her mother's 'helper'.

'We live on the third floor. She opened the window in the bedroom and went to the neighbour's balcony, telling them she had accidentally locked herself and couldn't open the door.' Once free, Fatima fled and hasn't been seen by her mother since. 'She was caught on footage at the coach station (in Surgut),' said Shakhla.

Vkontakte

In recent days Fatima has posted from her hideout on the recent terrorist attacks on the Russian plane and the savagery in Paris. Picture: Vkontakte

'The FSB (Russian secret service) showed me that she was at Sheremetyevo (Airport in Moscow), and she flew there from Surgut. That was it. She went to Syria through Dagestan, Azerbaijan and Turkey. For some time she lived in Iraq. She messaged her cousin who lives in Azerbaijan from an American SIM-card - used in Iraq. She told her she would soon go to Syria.'

In recent days she has posted from her hideout on the recent terrorist attacks on the Russian plane shot out of the sky over Sinai - killing 224 innocent people - and the savagery in Paris. She claimed it was 'our brothers who shot down the plane of Kogalymavia over Sinai'. And it was her brothers 'who smashed all in Paris'.

Shakhla Bochkareva with Fatima's pic


Shakhla Bochkareva and Fatima

'They wouldn't let her leave alive. A bullet, that's the price of her life.' Pictures: SITV

'You don't like to realise this? Die from your spite!' Sarcastically, she mocked the 'kids', 'women', the 'elderly' who had perished, arguing: 'We Muslims feel like this every day for years.' She has provoked outrage on the web - such comments as 'scum', 'burn in hell', 'ISIS whore', but the strongest of all is from her heartbroken mother, who has been caused excruciating pain by her daughter's new allegiance.

'I will simply be beside myself if she takes someone else's life,' she said. 'It's better not to live than to be the mother of a terrorist. You realise what a monster you gave birth to. It is hard for any mother. Of course, no mother will admit that her child is a monster. But if you're honest, yes, we gave birth to these monsters.'

As for Fatima's relationship with Abdullah, she said: 'If she lives with a recruiter, she already knows too much. They wouldn't let her leave alive. A bullet, that's the price of her life. 

'As painful as it is, I know I will never see her again.'

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Comments (1)

As a mother myself, I can understand how terribly heartbroken and disappointed you must be from your daughter making such an irrational and tragic decision. No matter what part of the world we come from, no doubt all mothers are unified in wanting our children to always choose the right path. I'm so sorry for your pain and I hope that somehow your family can be restored.
Sandy, Austin texas USA
27/01/2016 11:22
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