Women prisoners in Russia’s Primorsky Krai had their heads forcibly shaved, those who resisted were beaten

Relatives of prisoners at Russian women’s penal colony IK-10 in Primorsky Krai say that in mid-September, the women’s heads were forcibly shaved under the pretext of a lice epidemic and that anyone who resisted was beaten, reports Sibir Realii.

Members of the Public Monitoring Commission (ONK), who visited the colony on September 21 and 22, confirmed the claims, saying that there was “no sign of lice in the prison,” but that the prisoners’ bodies showed “traces of violence.” Oksana Gritskova, the head of IK-10, said that "there was no epidemic of head lice, but isolated cases were detected." According to her, the inmates “voluntarily” agreed to "cut their hair completely off."

The mother of one of the inmates told reporters that after the complaint, Gritskova used threats and insults to force the victims to sign a document saying they were suicidal, after which they were placed on a registry. “Now my daughter is afraid for her life,” one of the victim’s mothers said. “She says, ‘Mom, if something happens to me, know that it wasn’t me.’”