A 19-year-old student from Kazan came to Dubai for an intellectual competition.
And five weeks later, she was found in a glass aquarium with her skin peeled off her legs and her eyes gouged out.
What happened to Sabina Rakimova remains a mystery that the authorities of the United Arab Emirates prefer not to disclose.
It all began in the spring of 2023 when Sabina Rakimova received an email at her university address.
The girl was a fourthyear student at the faculty of international relations at Kazan Federal University and was planning a career as a diplomat.
The email came from an organization called Future Muslim Women, an international educational project that supposedly sought talented girls from Islamic countries to participate in a conference in Dubai.
The sender introduced himself as the project coordinator, Amir Hassan, and said that Sabina had passed the preliminary selection based on her academic achievements and an essay on the role of women in the modern Islamic world, which she had published in a student magazine.
The letter contained an invitation to a 3-day conference with all expenses paid including airfare, accommodation in a five-star hotel and perdeium.
The event was to be held under the patronage of Shik Talal al- Nahan, a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.
Sabina was thrilled.
During her three years of study, she had established herself as one of the best students in her class, was fluent in English and Arabic, and actively participated in United Nations model conferences.
The opportunity to take part in an international event of this level seemed like an incredible stroke of luck and an important step for her future career.
Sabina’s parents, Rashid and Aliyah Rakimoff, were somewhat apprehensive about the trip.
Her father worked as an engineer at a chemical plant in Nijnakamsk and her mother taught the Tatar language at school.
The family lived modestly and such opportunities seemed too good to be true.
Rashid even offered to accompany his daughter, but the organizers explained that the program was strictly for individual participation.
Sabina spent two weeks preparing a presentation on the prospects for women’s education in Central Asia.
She studied the biographies of the other participants listed on the project website.
Girls from Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and other countries in the Islamic world.
They all looked like educated and ambitious young women between the ages of 18 and 25.
A week before departure, Amir Hassan sent Sabina a detailed program of events.
The first day included registration of participants and an evening reception at the Opus Hotel in Business Bay, one of the most prestigious areas of Dubai.
The second day was devoted to panel discussions on women’s leadership in Islam, entrepreneurship and social initiatives.
The third day included a cultural program and the closing of the conference with the presentation of certificates.
On June 8th, 2023, Sabina flew from Kazan to Dubai via Moscow.
On the plane, she took several selfies and posted them on social media with a caption saying that she was flying to an international conference and was very excited.
Her last Instagram post was made at Dubai airport, a photo of the arrivals hall with an emoji of the United Arab Emirates flag and a heart.
At the airport, she was met by a driver holding a sign with her name written in Latin letters.
The man introduced himself as Ahmed and said he would take her to the hotel.
On the way, he explained that the other participants had already arrived and that tomorrow morning everyone would meet for breakfast to get acquainted and receive the program of events.
The Opus Hotel was truly impressive.
The unusually shaped building designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid was located in the heart of the business district.
Sabina’s room was on the 22nd floor with a panoramic view of the Dubai skyline.
The girl was amazed by the luxury of the interior and immediately took a video for her subscribers, saying that she had never lived in such conditions before.
That evening, Sabina went down to the hotel restaurant where a welcome dinner was to be held.
In the lobby, she was met by a middle-aged woman in a strict business suit, who introduced herself as Fatima Alzara, the project coordinator.
She explained that the other participants had already gathered in a private room, and that Sabina was a little late due to a flight delay.
Fatima escorted Sabina to the elevator, which went up to the 38th floor, where the hotel’s VIP rooms were located.
About 15 young women were sitting in the spacious room with huge windows overlooking the city.
All were dressed in elegant but conservative outfits and most wore hijabs of various colors.
The atmosphere seemed friendly and relaxed.
Sabina was introduced to the other participants.
Among them were Aisha from Pakistan who was studying international law, Nure from Indonesia with a degree in economics and Leila from Morocco who specialized in Islamic philosophy.
All the girls spoke good English and gave the impression of being educated and ambitious young women.
Dinner took place in a relaxed atmosphere.
The participants discussed their projects, shared their plans for the future, and talked about their countries.
Sabina felt a little awkward because of the language barrier.
Her English was good for academic purposes, but in an informal setting, she sometimes struggled to find the right words.
Nevertheless, the other girls were friendly and patient.
Around 1000 p.
m.
, Fatima announced that the program would start early the next day, so everyone should get a good night’s rest.
She handed out bags with conference materials, including the schedule, maps of Dubai, and souvenirs with the project logo.
Sabina returned to her room in high spirits and sent her parents a message saying that everything was going well and that the other participants were very interesting.
On the morning of June 9th, Sabina woke up early and immediately checked the schedule.
The first session was to begin at 10:00 a.
m.
in the hotel conference room.
The topic was announced as women’s leadership in the modern Islamic world.
Sabina prepared thoroughly memorizing the key points of her presentation on the situation with women’s education in Tatarstan and Central Asia.
However, when she went down for breakfast, none of the participants she had met the day before were in the restaurant.
The reception desk explained that the program had been changed at the last minute and that the new schedule would be brought to her room.
Sabina felt uneasy but decided that such changes in the programs of international events were commonplace.
Around noon, there was a knock on her door.
Standing outside were two men in suits who introduced themselves as hotel security guards.
They explained that there had been an incident with the hotel’s security system and that all guests were being asked to temporarily hand over their mobile phones and laptops for inspection.
The men were polite but insistent and Sabina, not wanting to cause any trouble, handed over her devices.
After that, all contact with the outside world was cut off.
Sabina’s parents began to worry the next day when their daughter did not respond to their messages.
Rashid Rakimoff tried to call the hotel but was told that no guest with that name was registered there.
When he gave the room number that Sabina had mentioned in their last conversation, he was told that the room was occupied by another guest.
The worried family contacted the Kazan police, but they explained that the girl was abroad of her own free will and that they could only start a search in a few days.
Rashid Rakimoff contacted the consular section of the Russian embassy in Abu Dhabi, but they were also unable to find any traces of Sabina’s stay in the country.
Meanwhile, the conference organizers continued to assure all concerned relatives of the participants that the girls were on a special retreat without access to the internet or telephone communication.
Amir Hassan explained in an email that this was part of a spiritual development program personally designed by Shik Talal and that the participants would return to normal in a few weeks.
This explanation might have reassured the parents were it not for one detail.
On June 14th, 6 days after her daughter’s disappearance, Aaliyah Rakimova received a short message from Sabina’s number.
It contained just a few words in Tatar.
Anne Mina Yaki Kau.
Mom, I’m fine.
I’ll be back.
The message arrived at 4:00 a.
m.
Moscow time, which was 5:00 a.
m.
in Dubai.
The mother immediately realized that the message was not written by her daughter.
Sabina never wrote to her parents in Tatar in messages.
Everyone in the family communicated in Russian and Tatar was only used in conversation.
In addition, the girl always called her mother mom and not an, a more formal address that she would only use with older strangers.
Rashid Rakimoff immediately forwarded the message to the Russian consulate insisting that his daughter was in danger.
The consul promised to submit an official request to the local authorities regarding the whereabouts of the Russian citizen.
However, the Dubai police replied that they had no information about Sabina Rakimova’s stay in the Emirates.
Days passed and no information about the girl’s fate was received.
Her parents turned to journalists, social media, and human rights organizations.
The story began to receive attention in the Russian media, especially in Tatarstan.
However, all attempts to obtain an official response from the authorities of the United Arab Emirates, were met with silence.
On June 28th, 20 days after his daughter’s disappearance, Rashid Rakimoff decided to fly to Dubai himself.
He took time off work and borrowed money from relatives for tickets and a visa.
At the Dubai airport, he was met by an employee of the Russian consulate who accompanied him to the police station to file an official missing person report.
The police officer who took the report behaved formally and disinterestedly.
He recorded the basic information about Sabina.
But when Rasheed began to describe the circumstances of her disappearance, the officer interrupted him, saying that many young tourists disappear in Dubai for a few days and then reappear in other emirates or neighboring countries.
He advised Rashid to wait another week before panicking.
Rashid spent 5 days in Dubai visiting hospitals, morgs, hotels, and travel agencies.
No one knew anything about his daughter.
The Opus Hotel confirmed that a private event had indeed taken place there on the date specified, but the details were a trade secret, and the administration could not disclose them without a court order.
On July 5th, Rashid Rakimoff returned to Kazan empty-handed, but he did not give up.
He created a group on social media where he posted photos of his daughter and asked anyone who might have seen her in Dubai to come forward.
Parents of other conference participants from different countries joined the group.
It turned out that at least eight families had lost contact with their daughters at around the same time.
Norsari’s mother from Jakarta was particularly active coordinating efforts between the families of the missing girls.
Through her Rashid learned that parents from Pakistan, Morocco and Egypt had faced exactly the same situation.
Their daughters had disappeared after participating in the same project and the organizers had given the same explanations about a spiritual retreat.
On July 13th, the first breakthrough in the case occurred.
A food delivery service employee in Dubai named Karim Al- Mahadi contacted the Indonesian consulate with a statement that he had seen girls matching the description of the missing conference participants.
According to him, he regularly delivered orders to a villa in the prestigious Jira area where he saw a group of young women who looked depressed and frightened.
Kareem said that during one of his deliveries, two girls of Asian appearance approached him and asked for help.
They spoke English with an Indonesian accent and claimed that they were being held against their will.
One of them slipped him a note asking him to pass on a message to the Indonesian consulate.
The note contained the name Nure Sari and her mother’s phone number in Jakarta.
Karim’s information led Indonesian diplomats to submit an official request to the Dubai authorities to check the address.
However, when the police arrived at the villa, no one was there.
The owner of the property said he had rented the house to a tourist group that had already left the country.
Nevertheless, this was the first concrete lead.
Kareem agreed to give detailed testimony and described the situation at the villa.
According to him, the windows of most rooms were covered with thick curtains even during the day and security guards were constantly on duty in the courtyard.
He also noted that the girls he saw were wearing identical clothes, long white dresses and headscarves, which he found strange for tourists.
On July 17th, the story took an unexpected turn.
An anonymous account appeared on social media which began publishing photos and documents related to the future Muslim women project.
Among the materials were internal correspondence between the organizers, lists of participants with their personal data and photos as well as financial documents showing that the project was funded not only by Shik Talal but also by several other influential businessmen from various Persian Gulf countries.
The most shocking document was an internal memo in which the participants were described not as intellectuals but as top quality goods with detailed descriptions of their appearance, education, and family status.
The document stated that preference was given to girls from poor families who were unlikely to be able to organize a serious search in case of disappearance.
An anonymous source also published an audio recording that was allegedly made by one of the missing participants.
The recording featured a female voice speaking English with a noticeable accent.
My name is Aisha Khan.
I am from Karach.
If anyone hears this, please tell my family that I am alive but cannot return home.
We are being held in a house where we are not allowed to leave.
Sabina from Russia tried to escape, but she was caught and beaten.
I haven’t seen her since that day.
The recording was analyzed by experts who confirmed that it had not been edited.
The voice matched that of Aisha Khan, a 20-year-old student from Pakistan who was among the missing conference participants.
This was the first direct evidence that the girls were indeed being held against their will.
After the publication of this material, the authorities of the United Arab Emirates commented on the situation for the first time.
A Dubai police spokesman said that an investigation was underway into an organization that may have been engaged in fraud under the guise of educational programs but denied any evidence of coercion or human trafficking.
At the same time, Shik Tal al- Nahan issued a statement through his representatives in which he categorically denied any connection with the disappearance of the conference participants.
He claimed that his name had been used by fraudsters without his knowledge and that he was ready to cooperate with the authorities in investigating the case.
By that time, the project’s official website had already been shut down, and all email addresses associated with it were no longer responding.
Early in the morning on July 19th, cleaning staff at the Opus Hotel discovered a large glass aquarium in one of the banquet halls on the 38th floor, left over from a private event held the day before.
The aquarium was installed in the center of the hall and apparently served as a decorative element for some kind of celebration.
Cleaner Maria Santos, a Filipino woman who had been working at the hotel for 5 years, later told investigators that at first she thought the aquarium contained a realistic doll or mannequin, perhaps part of an art installation.
Such art objects were not uncommon in Dubai’s luxury hotels, especially after private events held by wealthy clients.
However, when Maria came closer to start cleaning around the aquarium, she realized that there was a real human body inside.
The woman screamed and called the hotel security service.
The security guards were the first to arrive at the scene, immediately, cordoning off the room and calling the police.
The body in the aquarium belonged to a young woman of eastern appearance.
Her face was mutilated beyond recognition.
Her eyes had been gouged out and most of the skin on her body was missing, especially on her legs and arms.
There were gunshot wounds in her knees and her stomach had been cut open with some of her internal organs removed and laid out around her body inside the aquarium.
The water in the aquarium was reddish from the blood, but it was clear enough to see all the gruesome details.
At the bottom lay objects that looked like ritual instruments, several knives with ornate handles, metal tongs, and some symbols engraved on small plates.
Police officers who arrived at the scene initially thought the discovery was part of an art installation or a special effect for a movie.
Hollywood blockbusters were regularly filmed in Dubai and realistic replicas were common place.
Only after a forensic expert confirmed that the body was real did a full investigation begin.
It was impossible to identify the victim by appearance due to the nature of the injuries.
However, personal belongings were found next to the aquarium.
A small handbag with documents and jewelry.
The passport belonged to Sabina Rakimova, a student from Kazan.
The handbag also contained her Russian driver’s license, student ID, and several photos with her family.
News of the discovery of the body quickly leaked to the media despite attempts by the authorities to keep the information secret.
An anonymous source in the Dubai Police provided journalists with photos of the scene, which soon appeared on the internet.
The images were so shocking that most publications refused to publish them, even with blurring.
Rashid and Aliyah Rakimoff learned of their daughter’s death, not from the official authorities, but from news reports on social media.
The Russian consulate contacted them only a few hours after the information became public.
The consul expressed his condolences and assured them that he would seek a full investigation into the circumstances of Sabina’s death.
However, the official investigation faced obstacles from the outset.
The hotel administration claimed that it did not know who had organized the event in the banquet hall as the rental had been arranged through third parties.
The company listed as the tenant in the documents turned out to be non-existent.
There was an empty office at the address provided and the phone numbers did not answer.
The hotel’s CCTV recordings for the period from July 15th to 19th were mysteriously damaged due to a technical malfunction.
The hotel security service managed to recover only a few short fragments showing people in dark clothes and masks carrying some objects through the corridors, but it was impossible to make out their faces.
The autopsy confirmed that Sabina had been subjected to prolonged torture before her death.
The forensic expert determined that the skin had been removed from the living victim, her eyes gouged out, and her knee joints shot with a small caliber weapon.
Death was caused by blood loss and pain shock, but the process of torture continued for several hours, possibly days.
Investigators were particularly alarmed by the fact that the nature of the injuries was clearly ritualistic.
Experts on religious cults suggested that the murder was committed as part of some kind of satanic ritual or occult ceremony.
The symbols found in the aquarium did not correspond to any known religious traditions, but bore similarities to the attributes of secret societies.
On July 21st, the investigation received another important piece of evidence.
Karim al- Mahadi, a delivery service courier who had previously reported the suspicious villa, contacted the police and told them what he had seen a few days before the body was discovered.
According to him, on the evening of July 18th, he was delivering an order to a private residence in the Palm Jira area and witnessed a strange scene.
Karim said he saw a group of people in black hoodies unloading a large glass container from a minibus.
He couldn’t see what was inside the container, but he noticed that the people were handling it very carefully, as if it were something fragile and valuable.
Kareem remembered the address of the residence because he got lost and spent a long time looking for the right house.
When the police arrived at the address, the residence was empty.
Neighbors said that the house belonged to a local businessman, but he had been abroad for several months.
Inside the house, investigators found traces of a recent large gathering of people, leftover food, cigarette butts, empty water bottles.
In the basement of the residence, a room was found with walls covered in strange drawings and symbols painted in red.
In the center of the room stood an altar made of black stone with a five-pointed star inverted with its tip pointing downwards.
Next to the altar lay ritual objects, candles, knives, metal bowls, and some manuscripts in Arabic.
An examination showed that the red paint on the walls contained traces of human blood.
DNA analysis confirmed that the blood belonged to several different people, including Sabina Rakimova.
This meant that the girl had spent some time in this house before her death and had been abused there.
The discovery at the residence gave the investigation a new direction.
It became clear that Sabina’s murder was not a random crime, but part of the organized activities of a group of people who practiced some form of Satanism or occultism.
The nature of the symbols and ritual objects indicated that the group had a complex hierarchy and operated according to a pre-planned scheme.
On July 23rd, an anonymous source sent an audio recording to several international media outlets, which was allegedly made during one of the rituals.
The recording contained women’s screams, men’s voices reciting some kind of incantations in Arabic and sounds that could be blows or torture.
An expert analysis confirmed the authenticity of the recording, but it was impossible to identify the speakers.
Linguists determined that the incantations were recited in classical Arabic using archaic forms characteristic of medieval occult texts.
This indicated that the organizers of the rituals had serious knowledge of ancient magical practices.
The recording also contained a female voice uttering phrases in Russian.
Please stop.
I want to go home.
Mom, help me.
Phocopic analysis showed a high probability that this was the voice of Sabina Rakimova.
Although it wasn’t possible to establish this with absolute certainty due to the quality of the recording and distortions caused by fear and pain.
On July 25th, the investigation gained new momentum thanks to the testimony of two Indonesian girls who managed to escape from captivity.
Norsari and Devi Listari were found by Indonesian consulate officials at a medical center in Dubai where they sought help in a state of extreme exhaustion and psychological shock.
The girls told a horrific story about what happened to the conference participants after their arrival in Dubai.
According to them, after the first day, when everyone was introduced to each other, they were taken to a villa in the Jira area under the pretext of changing locations for more private discussions.
There, their documents and phones were immediately taken away with the explanation that this was a necessary security measure.
Nure told investigators that there were about 20 girls from different countries in the house.
They were all placed in rooms with no windows or with boarded up windows.
They were only allowed to leave their rooms when accompanied by guards and attempts to communicate with each other were strictly suppressed.
They were fed once a day with meager food and given limited portions of water.
Devi added that a few days after their arrival, what the organizers called training sessions began.
The girls were forced to memorize texts in Arabic, the content of which was not explained to them.
Those who refused or did not memorize well were subjected to physical punishment.
They were beaten, deprived of food, and locked in dark rooms.
According to witnesses, Sabina resisted from the very beginning.
She refused to participate in the training sessions, demanded that her documents and phone be returned, and threatened to contact the Russian consulate.
The organizers first tried to break her will through psychological pressure, but when that didn’t work, they resorted to more harsh methods.
Nor recalled how one night Sabina was taken from the shared bedroom by several masked men.
She was returned only in the morning unconscious with bruises all over her body and burns on her arms and legs.
After that, the Russian girl became more submissive, but her eyes showed despair.
Both witnesses described rituals that were performed in the basement of the villa several times a week.
The participants were forced to attend these ceremonies as spectators, explaining that it was part of their education.
The rituals included animal sacrifices, reciting spells, and various sadistic acts.
Devi said that the leader of the group was a middle-aged man whom everyone called Master Ibrahim.
He wore a black hooded robe and never removed the mask covering the lower half of his face.
He conducted most of the rituals and gave orders to the other members of the group, which consisted of about 10 people.
According to the girls, the group members spoke Arabic among themselves but sometimes switched to English.
Some of them had clearly Western names and accents which indicated the international nature of the organization.
Nor remembered that one of the men introduced himself as David and spoke with an American accent while a woman named Angelica spoke with a French accent.
According to the witnesses, the most frightening ritual was the last one they witnessed.
It happened about a week before their escape.
Sabina was brought to the basement in a white dress, her hands tied behind her back.
Master Ibrahim gave a long speech in Arabic, calling her a rebellious victim who must atone for her pride.
Nure began to cry as she recalled the scene.
She said that Sabina was laid on a stone altar and Master Ibrahim began to perform some kind of ritual on her with a knife.
At first, it looked like symbolic actions, but then the knife touched the girl’s skin and she screamed in pain.
At that moment, all the spectators were led out of the basement.
Debie added that they did not see Sabina again the next day.
When they asked about her, the guards replied that the Russian girl had completed her training and had been transferred to the next level.
They were not told anything else about her fate, but the atmosphere in the house became even more tense and frightening.
The Indonesian girl’s escape happened by accident.
During a food delivery, one of the couriers turned out to be their compatriate and they managed to pass him a note asking for help.
The courier contacted the Indonesian consulate and a few days later, an operation was organized to free them.
The other girls remained in the house and their fate is unknown.
The testimony of Nure and Devi became key evidence that Sabina’s murder was not an isolated incident, but part of the systematic activities of an international criminal organization.
The investigation obtained specific names, descriptions of the suspect’s appearance, and addresses where other victims might be hiding.
However, when the police arrived at the addresses provided by the witnesses, all the properties were empty.
The organizers had apparently received information about the Indonesian girl’s escape and hastily covered up the traces of their activities.
There were no documents, computers, or any other evidence left in the houses that could lead to arrests.
On July 27th, the Russian embassy sent an official note of protest to the government of the United Arab Emirates, demanding a full investigation into the murder of Sabina Rakimova and the arrest of all those involved.
The document stated that the inaction of the local authorities could be regarded as aiding and abetting international criminal activity.
In response, UAE officials stated that a full investigation was underway, but that it was complicated by the international nature of the crime and the difficulty of gathering evidence.
They promised close cooperation with Russian law enforcement agencies and the allocation of additional resources to solve the crime.
However, in practice, cooperation left much to be desired.
Russian investigators were denied direct participation in the investigation under the pretext of the peculiarities of local legislation.
Requests for case materials were fulfilled with long delays and in truncated form.
At the same time, posts began to appear on social media and forums from people claiming to know of the existence of similar organizations in other countries in the region.
Anonymous sources reported cases of young women disappearing in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait under similar circumstances.
On August 1st, the international human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, published a report accusing the UAE authorities of responding inadequately to the case of Sabina Rakimova.
The document stated that the lack of arrests and the classification of the case materials could indicate that influential individuals were protecting the criminal group.
The report also contained information that over the past 3 years more than 50 cases of young women who had arrived on tourist or educational visas had disappeared in the Persian Gulf countries.
Most of these cases were never solved and the official authorities explained the disappearances as voluntary departures to other countries.
The report paid particular attention to the role of social media and the internet in recruiting victims.
Human rights activists have established that criminal groups create dozens of fake educational and charitable projects through which they lure gullible girls from developing countries with promises of scholarships, internships, and career opportunities.
On August 5th, Sabina’s family received permission to repatriate their daughter’s body for burial in Russia.
However, when the coffin arrived in Kazan, it became clear that the UAE authorities had not handed over all of the remains.
A forensic expert in Kazan determined that some internal organs were missing, which according to documents from Dubai should have been in the body.
This circumstance caused a new wave of outrage.
Sabina’s parents and their lawyers said that the concealment of part of the remains could be linked to an attempt to hide evidence that could point to specific perpetrators of the crime.
The Russian authorities sent another diplomatic protest demanding an explanation.
Sabina’s funeral took place on August 9th in Kazan.
Hundreds of people attended the farewell ceremony.
Classmates, teachers, and simply sympathetic citizens.
The girl’s mother, Aaliyah Rakimova, gave a speech in which she vowed to seek justice and not allow her daughter’s death to be forgotten.
After the funeral, the Rakimov family began their own investigation.
They created a fund in Sabina’s memory which collected information about similar crimes and provided assistance to the families of other victims.
Parents of missing girls from eight countries contacted them, and gradually a picture of a large-scale international operation began to emerge.
The foundation also hired private investigators who worked in the Persian Gulf countries.
After several months, they managed to establish that the organization behind Sabina’s murder had ties to several influential businessmen and politicians in the region.
However, it was dangerous to disclose specific names because of the threats that began to be made against the family.
On August 10th, an incident occurred that showed how dangerous attempts to investigate this case could be.
Rashid Rakimoff received an anonymous call in which a male voice with an Arabic accent warned him to stop his provocative activities, otherwise his family could repeat the fate of his daughter.
After this call, the Rakamov family was placed under protection by local law enforcement agencies.
However, threats continued to arrive through various channels, anonymous letters, messages on social media, suspicious people appearing near the house.
It became clear that the criminal organization had agents far beyond the UAE.
On August 15th, international media published an investigation based on information provided by anonymous sources in law enforcement agencies in several countries.
According to this information, the organization that killed Sabina is part of an international network involved in human trafficking under the guise of religious and educational programs.
The investigation claimed that the network operates in 12 countries and has revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Victims are used not only for sexual slavery, but also to participate in ritual killings practiced by certain sects popular among the ultra rich in the Middle East and the West.
According to the investigation, representatives of the so-called black aristocracy, descendants of ancient families who practice occult rituals and consider themselves chosen, play a special role in the organization.
These people use their influence and wealth to organize rituals that according to their beliefs give them power over other people.
On August 20th, the UAE authorities acknowledged for the first time that the case of Sabina Rakimova could be linked to the activities of an international criminal organization.
However, they continued to deny any connection between local officials or influential figures and this organization.
The creation of a special investigation team to work on such cases was announced.
At the same time, arrests began of minor figures, security guards, couriers, and landlords who may have been connected to the crime.
However, all those detained either refused to testify or claimed that they did not know the true nature of their employer’s activities.
None of the organizers or leaders of the group were arrested.
On August 25th, Sabina’s family received another threat.
This time more specific.
An envelope with photos of other family members, Rashid’s parents, his sister, and her children, was slipped into the mailbox of their home in Kazan.
Red crosses were drawn on the photos, and at the bottom was written, “Silence is life.
” After this incident, the Russian authorities offered the family the opportunity to move to another city and change their names.
However, Rashid and Aliyah refused, stating that they would not allow themselves to be intimidated and would fight for justice to the end.
They continued the work of the foundation, but now acted more cautiously using intermediaries and anonymous channels of communication.
By the end of August, it became clear that the official investigation in the UAE was at a dead end.
All the key witnesses had either disappeared or refused to testify.
Physical evidence had been destroyed or lost.
The authorities announced that the case remained open, but active investigative efforts had effectively ceased.
In September, the international community attempted to put pressure on the UAE authorities through various international organizations.
The European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the inaction of the Emirati authorities and demanding an independent investigation.
Similar statements were made by the parliaments of several other countries.
However, these diplomatic efforts did not yield any real results.
The UAE is an important economic partner for many Western countries and governments were not prepared to enter into a serious conflict over a single, albeit egregious crime.
The case gradually disappeared from the international news.
October brought new revelations from anonymous sources.
Correspondence between members of the criminal organization was leaked online, discussing plans to eliminate the problem and get rid of the witnesses.
The messages mentioned specific names of people who needed to be taken care of, including Nure and Devi, the Indonesian girls who had escaped.
This information prompted the Indonesian authorities to take emergency measures to protect their citizens.
Both girls were transferred to a secret location and their testimonies were recorded on video for possible use in an international court.
The Indonesian government also launched its own investigation into the activities of such organizations.
In November, an event occurred that temporarily brought Sabina’s case back into the spotlight.
A British citizen named David Smith was arrested in London on suspicion of involvement in an international human trafficking network.
A search of his home uncovered video recordings of ritual murders, including possibly the last days of Sabina’s life.
Smith’s arrest was the result of a monthslong investigation by British police who were tracking international financial flows linked to human trafficking.
It turned out that the suspect regularly transferred large sums of money to accounts in various offshore zones and then this money was used to finance criminal activities in the Persian Gulf countries.
David Smith agreed to cooperate with the investigation in exchange for a reduced sentence.
His testimony confirmed that Sabina’s murder was part of an elite club for ultra-wealthy clients who paid millions of dollars to participate in ritual killings.
The organization operated under the guise of charitable and educational projects, luring victims from poor families around the world.
Smith named several participants, including an American billionaire, a French socialite, and two members of Gulf royal families.
However, by the time the information was passed on to Interpol, all of the individuals named had disappeared.
Their accounts had been closed.
Their real estate sold through frontmen, and they themselves had vanished into the system of offshore jurisdictions.
Video recordings found in Smith’s possession became key evidence in the case.
One of them recorded the last night of Sabina’s life.
The girl, tied to the altar, recited prayers in the Tatar language while the participants in the ritual stood around her in masks and robes.
The recording ended at the moment when one of them raised a knife.
Experts confirmed the authenticity of the video.
The faces of most of the participants were hidden, but their voices and gestures made it possible to establish that they were citizens of at least five countries.
One of the voices belongs to a woman with a French accent, presumably the same Angelique described by the Indonesian witnesses.
In December 2023, a British court sentenced David Smith to 25 years in prison for participating in human trafficking and aiding and abetting murder.
This was the only real sentence in the Sabina Rakimova case.
The other members of the organization went unpunished.
The UAE authorities declared the case closed due to insufficient evidence to prosecute specific individuals.
Shik Talal al- Nahan publicly denied any connection to the crime and filed lawsuits against several media outlets to protect his honor and dignity.
Most of the lawsuits were successful.
Sabina’s family continues to work with the foundation established in her memory.
In 2 years, they have managed to help find traces of 13 more missing girls from different countries.
Three were found alive in private clinics in Switzerland and Austria.
where they had been placed after participating in rituals that broke their psyche.
The rest are still missing.
Sabina’s mother, Aaliyah Rakimova, runs a blog where she publishes new information about the activities of such organizations.
She has been summoned for questioning several times as a distributor of false information, but no criminal cases have been opened.
The family lives under constant security protection.
Threats continue to come in.
The Future Muslim Women Project has disappeared without a trace.
Its website is closed and the organizers have vanished.
However, experts from Sabina’s Foundation have identified at least 12 similar projects that continue to operate in different countries under different names.
The scheme remains the same.
Young educated girls are lured with promises of scholarships and career opportunities.
In official documents, Sabina Rakimova is listed as a victim of unidentified persons.
In Dubai, everyone knows the truth about what happened at the Opus Hotel in July 2023.
But this truth remains buried under layers of diplomatic silence, corruption, and fear of powerful people for whom human life is just entertainment for big money.
A 19-year-old student from Kazan fell victim to a system that turns education into a trap, faith into a cover, and the dreams of young people into commodities for the darkest desires of those in power.
Sabina’s story has ended, but the system continues to operate.
