Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan

Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan

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Ratings: 7.26/10 from 19 users.

Bride Kidnapping in KyrgyzstanIn rural Kyrgyzstan, tradition is king. Polo's still played with a freshly killed goat and the men still marry their women the old-fashioned way: by abducting them off the street and forcing them to be their wife.

Basically, here's how it works: A prospective groom gathers his friends into a car or van, drives to the home or neighborhood of his desired bride, then ambushes her and drags her kicking and screaming into the van and away from her family.

Although the tradition of bride kidnapping is illegal in Kyrgyzstan, authorities largely ignore the law. Nearly half of all marriages in rural Kyrgyzstan are a result of the practice, with the most common justification being "tradition."

Vice traveled to the Kyrgyz countryside to follow/aid and abet a young groom named Kubanti as he surprised his teenage girlfriend Nazgul with the gift of marriage/kidnapping.

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aud
aud
9 years ago

this documentary does a good job at keeping the watcher's interest and attention. though the journalist is not at all objective, it brings a bit of humor into this otherwise horrific practice

Steve
Steve
9 years ago

This journalist added no sort of educational value to this documentary. Worthless, and creepy. Any average civilian could have performed better.

HeySuze Christ
HeySuze Christ
11 years ago

the first thing they do is show her the kitchen...hahaha

HeySuze Christ
HeySuze Christ
11 years ago

At first i was outraged and upset, but it clearly looks like everyone is in on it, even the bride. In this case, at least. I'm sure the same cannot be said when it is a stranger.

Sam Franklin
Sam Franklin
11 years ago

How do you know he/she is telling the truth? The real problem is idiots like you in the world are prepared to take anything on face value. What ever happened to researching/investigating for yourself? Who has actually been to Kyrgyzstan? The less uneducated do-gooders on the planet the better.

Fernan
Fernan
11 years ago

there are some points that this might be staged. still a better love story than twilight.

slpsa
slpsa
11 years ago

Imagine if every human in the world could meet in a place like this site, and settle misconceptions about each others cultures and beliefs as easily as Alibek just settled this one. What a wonderful world that would be.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.

Alibek Kydyraliev
Alibek Kydyraliev
11 years ago

I am from Kyrgyzstan and even though I havn't watched the video I am quite aware of this tradition that took place some time ago. Being born and raised in a city, I can assure you that this kind of tradition is non-existant in urban areas and rarely seen in rural area, and even if practiced, it is only for "following the traditions" and entertainment purposes with mutual agreement of the groom & the bride.

By many Kyrgyz people this tradition is viewed in fact as a thing of the past just like tradition of burning women accused of witchcraft in the western world.

You will not see men riding horses and tossing around a freshly killed goat on a daily basis. These kind of games are only played during special festivals. Even "fake" bride kidnappings are staged as well. This is done in order to preserve the unique culture and traditions so that the new generations will not forget their past.

I am sure there are many festivals in other countries that are aimed at preserving and remembering certain traditions.

James Tod
James Tod
11 years ago

this will be a good movie if the actors stop laughng in the movie . they need good actors .

Konasutraone
Konasutraone
11 years ago

She looked like she was enjoying the whole charade, funny how she was wearing pretty good clothes when she got kidnapped. Nothing much wrong here, just a bit of charade for the cameras and a bit of old custom, a bit like Greeks smashing glasses at a wedding.

GodmanEnki
GodmanEnki
11 years ago

"Vulva-disfiguration" (AND circumcision) still goes on as well. The Muslims are STILL living in the stone age, because TPTB want it that way. "keep 'em stupid." That's the Muslim rule. Treat your women like "objects of trash," and when you die for "Allah" you get to have 72 VIRGINS, and start the terrible-treatment of women..........ALL OVER AGAIN. The only REASON Muslim-men, have their women hide their faces, is because the "LITTLE-BOYS" that they are, are afraid and jealous an American-man, or ANY other man for that matter, might "take them away from the LITTLE BOYS. What these LITTLE BOYS never seem to realize is, IF they treated their women as equals, AS HUMAN BEINGS, their women wouldn't WANT to leave them!
(72 VIRGINS!?" I just love that one......

tim1888
tim1888
11 years ago

thats caveman style of wanting a shag grab the bird and carry her away into the wilderness i bet the female really enjoys that, i thought that man had evolved from that but obviously not.

Danielle Policelli
Danielle Policelli
11 years ago

This should have been named Runaway Bride

Emit Brown
Emit Brown
11 years ago

There is one more aspect to consider - sex! In cultures where no pre-marital sex is allowed the marriage is the only way for the woman to have sex. Men are a bit luckier- usually they can visit prostitutes, but still marriage is pretty much the only way of having "normal" sex life for both genders.

I'm sure if Kirgiz guys could have normal girlfriend-boyfriend relationships before the actual marriage this practice would have not been this popular.

over the edge
over the edge
11 years ago

@dewflirt
you should learn to come out of your shell and let us know what you really think lol

@anyone who wishes to read this
no matter what the issue if the best reasons for or against something are it is based in some ancient myth, that's the way we have always done it or an alternative way has faults too then odds are what you are doing is wrong.

dewflirt
dewflirt
11 years ago

I think I should now say something sensible here. That this practice of bride kidnapping is traditional and serves to get the job of marriage done, is not an indication that it is right. It clearly shows that the men think the women are unable to make any rational choice about their lives and are skittish individuals that need to be broken in much the same way that they break their horses. They may well be excellent horsemen (and they are!) but that is not the sign of an excellent husband. They should try a little whispering...
They seem to want the women to submit themselves, and I guess in a 'days of yore' kind of way, it could be seen as romantic. Maybe. Its all a bit taming of the shrew.
I have said before, I am no feminist. The few I have met seem intent on trying to beat men at their own game, why? Why would I want to be like a man? We are equal and opposite. They end up placing men above themselves, making their imagined superiority something to aspire to. As a woman, I have my own game and my own rules! If these boys treated the women like women, they would be treated like men and wouldn't have to prove their manhood with rough handling. They are on a weird little power trip. Does that continue after the wedding? Are they pressed into giving their bodies up as well? That thought does not sit comfortably in my mind at all!
Those boys are not flavour of the month. In fact they are not even dish of the day! But I'll have mine skinned and deep fried, please ;)

adilrye
adilrye
11 years ago

I don't know how people can possibly defend this or go on a diatribe about "our marriage." Can't you just swallow your pride, put away your relativism and just declare bride kidnapping is just plain wrong on every level? It is. I'm sure the victims would agree.

dewflirt
dewflirt
11 years ago

Girls eh? Always saying no when they really mean yes. Good job the men know better, and its traditional which makes it all ok. Like trepanning. That's for your own good too ;)

Joseph
Joseph
11 years ago

It makes me think about the artificiality of marriage to begin with. I have a Russian friend that used to say 'just pick one, any one, it doesn't matter, its all the same in the long run.' I think this mentality is similar to Krygyztan and part of me doesn't feel its primitive, but rather more authentic than the Western mentality. The US Disneyfied view of marraige is of the knight on a white horse with plenty of money coming to rescue the princess. I currently live in Japan which has a practical view of marraige where love is secondary to stability and loyalty. In the end, I think marraige is an artificial construction that generally doesn't suit human needs but acts as more of a legal and economic partnership. In a perfect world, men and women would both be free to meet different people, stay with someone when the partnership worked out and leave when the relationship has run its course. Children and the economic system we live in constrains this sort of mobility though, and you usually end up in a messy divorce with custody and money battles. I definitely don't condone kidnapping, but don't really think the western view of marraige is much more enlightened, its rather another form of social pressure that men and women conform to because thats what's expected of them.

Paul
Paul
11 years ago

**** why don't we do that, instead of wasting money getting her pissed. Maybe women would be a bit nicer.

Imran Anjum
Imran Anjum
11 years ago

I respect the traditions..... But its not good one........

Robert Elliot
Robert Elliot
11 years ago

Turns out he drinks like a fish.

Far Spam
Far Spam
11 years ago

marrying a woman is much easier in the west...

go to any bar, say hello to random women till one says hello back, ply her with alcohol, show her you care and she will marry you!

when you get bored just divorce her and repeat the process above...

theoretically you could end up with an infinite number of women all bearing your children...

Rick Kiriakidis
Rick Kiriakidis
11 years ago

Seems to me that that entire process of kidnapping didn't need to happen and felt more like it was expected to keep tradition and go through the process.

Though, there is so much potential for actual abuse (even if it isn't the norm, one is one too many) which makes this abducting tradition completely degrading and disgusting.

I really dont know how to feel about this, on the one hand I can understand the need to keep traditions alive as its important to preserve your culture and remember where you came from and on the other hand it just seems like a barbaric practice thats completely and utterly reprehensible.

I think this tradition is one that needs to end or at least taught and remembered but not practiced. We need not forget where we came from or our history but correct our mistakes and change for the better as we go forth in the future.

lostbaby
lostbaby
11 years ago

there are lot's of unacceptable traditions going on in many of the 3rd world countries.. unlike the developed countries most of the ppl living in the 3rd world have a strong sense of responsibility and duty of care, respect, towards the society/neighborhood. so in this case, the girls can't get back to their normal life after breaking the marriage due to this huge responsibility n respect towards the society...bright side is ppl still live happily together in a big joint family n few elderly ppl end up in nursing homes....

Neverborn
Neverborn
11 years ago

disagree .. poor girls. thrown into a new life by manhandling. they may as well have bonked her on the head with a club and dragged her by the hair into that colourful little cave

Emit Brown
Emit Brown
11 years ago

To understand the reasons of this kind of traditions one must be very familiar with the people and the recent history of all Former SU countries. I think the expert in the movie is not on the right track in his search of the roots of this tradition.

I was born and raised in another Former Soviet country. In some rural parts of the country this practice was common too. It was infecting the cities too but the people were more educated and the society was more open so they started calling police and accepting the girls back and the practice didn't continue.

After USSR collapsed all former members of the union started looking for new "national identity", mostly by exaggerating and making up all sorts of "traditions" and stories about "great ancestors". A lot of countries jumped into religion (mostly Islamic countries) which in addition to unemployment, corruption, authoritarian governments and devastated education system became a ticket to "3rd world".

This tradition and a lot of traditions like this are part of that "national identity" struggle. The same tradition’s details may vary from village to village hugely, every village claims that their way is the oldest and refers to an old "mysterious" time or person.

In a lot of places education is something that can actually lower one's social status and doesn't guarantee a better income or etc. It's highly respected to be very "traditional", religious, nationalistic, not questioning the elderlies, etc., etc.

P.S. I just remembered that if you wanted to be a cool kid you were supposed to watch how the sheep/cow/pig was slaughtered.... damn, that is awful.... so glad that I left the country, region, culture....

over the edge
over the edge
11 years ago

claiming it is tradition only means that they have been terrorizing women for a long time. wrong is wrong no matter how long you have been doing it

jonathon wisnoski
jonathon wisnoski
11 years ago

"Nearly half of all marriages in rural Kyrgyzstan are a result of the practice, with the most common justification being “tradition.”"

But how do they differentiate between traditionalised abduction (going through the motions with complete consent) and actual abduction?

davy11
davy11
11 years ago

kind of like what the travellers do, when they grab a girl. only this is 10 times worse.
brilliant soundtrack also. lol

Declan_Walsh
Declan_Walsh
11 years ago

This...made me feel terrible on so many levels. Abducting that poor girl and guilting her into marriage. followed by the statistics on depression, abuse and suicide within this "practice". Of course there are much worse goings on in the world. Nevertheless I feel a big knot in the pit of my stomach after watching this strange "tradition"...damn.

wald0
wald0
11 years ago

Wow!! I have no idea what to say about something like this except that it is so foreign to me I have never even concieved of such a thing really happening. I did once see a native Amazonian tribe that practiced a very odd but somewhat simular ritual. When men and women became what they considered marrying age they all stripped down and placed these reflective fish scales on certain parts of thier anatomy that i wont mention. Then all the girls get a head start running through the jungle and the guys try to catch the one they want. The rule is that if you can catch her you can have her for your wife. They did say though that many of the guys and girls planned on who would catch them and made agreements before hand to make sure it turned out that way. Still, if another guy wanted her as well- you or she one better be able to out run him. Because if he caught her it was too bad for you or her, he was her husband. They also said some trading went on after the ritual, you know "I caught yours and you caught mine, so lets trade now." However these trades had to be agreed to by both sides and the medicine man of the tribe.
But I didn't see anyone crying or screaming throughout all this, on the contrary they seemed to be having a blast. This doc showed plainly that these girls are not having a blast to say the least, they are in fact frightened out of thier mind it seems. Sure they calm down and accept when they get there, with all those people they don't know pushing them to do so and them stranded somewhere they have never even been, knowing no one will help them, and havng just experienced being jerked out of their lives against their will- given enough time I can make anyone agree to anything under those circumstances. Tradition my a55, these men do this because they can- just like the doc said. They should be ashamed to call themselves men.

Cyber Penguin
Cyber Penguin
11 years ago

O.o ...... Wow.

*speechless*

John Krisfalusci
John Krisfalusci
11 years ago

What the heck? I thought this was a friendly place like Borat said LOL