Kidnapping of future wives in Kyrgyzstan is as common as looking for her on dating apps
In Kyrgyzstan, which is located in Central Asia, there is no word for 'date', and there are many cases where men kidnap women who will become wives and force them to marry. Sevindj Nurkiyazova, a writer living in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, explained the reality of marriage kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan.
The bride-snatchers of Kyrgyzstan |
According to a 2016 Kyrgyz government survey, about 22% of Kyrgyz women said their marriage began with a kidnapping, known as ala kachu. The breakdown is 6% for 'no consent' and 16% for 'with consent', but considering Kyrgyzstan's male-dominant thinking, it is difficult to find out the reality of the word 'consent', Nurkiyazova points out. . Marriage kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan is as common as dating apps in the United States, he said.
Legend has it that long before Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian Empire in 1876, a wealthy young woman fell in love with a poor man, but her father forbade her from marrying him, and the two ran away. forced the locals to chase them, and when they were driven to the edge of the ravine, they held hands and jumped down. This story became the basis of Ara Kachu, and it seems that it spread from a small village called Kies Kui Ou (Bride and Groom), 100 km southeast of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
It was in the 1940s that Ala Kathu appeared in ethnography. Two sociologists, an American and a Kyrgyz, theorized in a 2007 academic paper that 'Ala Kachu was advocated to help people transition from arranged marriages to consensual marriages.'
According to Mr. Nurkiyazova, Ara Kachu has come to express various situations in the last half century. As mentioned in the story, there are cases where lovers ignore their parents' wishes and run away, and there are also things that are done to save money on weddings. They have also kidnapped ex-girlfriends who refused to marry them, kidnapped childhood friends with whom they had barely spoken, and even captured women they had never met before and forced them with love promises, emotional blackmail, and rape. It is said that there are more heinous cases, such as trying to keep it to.
In recent years, women's education has been expanded, and the number of women in government officials is increasing, but the number of ala kachu is on the rise. In a detailed analysis of bride kidnapping in 2004, 27% of women over the age of 76 said they had been tricked or coerced into being kidnapped, while 16 to 25 More than half of women aged 18 and over say they have been kidnapped against their will.
Such investigations have not been repeated, but bride kidnapping continues. In 2012, a 20-year-old woman was kidnapped, raped, and then killed herself. Following a public outcry against the practice, the Kyrgyz parliament increased the maximum prison sentence for bride kidnapping from three to seven years, a step forward in some respects, but the Considering the 10 years for the crime, the 8 years for stealing a car, and the 11 years for stealing a cow, it was something of a dark joke, Nurkiyazova recalls.
Nurkiyazova said prison terms for bride kidnapping are now on par with other kidnappings, but the criminal justice system remains lax. A 2021 study by Bishkek-based news site Kloop found that out of 233 kidnappings reported to Kyrgyz police in 2019, only 14 went to trial. 2020 was even lower at 11 out of 210. While the law classifies bride kidnapping as an 'exceptionally aggravated criminal offense' and says the case must be pursued even if the parties settle, police and court officials have changed the victim's statement. A lawyer told Kloop. This is because the abduction claim may then be reclassified and dismissed.
Most of the ala kachu that go to court end in fines or suspended sentences. However, if a woman dies, it is an exception, in which case the news will spread. In April 2021, a 27-year-old woman was kidnapped while commuting to work in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but the victim was raped, strangled and killed.
When Nurkiyazova interviewed a resident of Bishkek, one man said, ``Instead of abducting women like stealing sheep, they start by talking to each other. 'Sometimes women don't agree, but if their parents agree, they do. Men don't kidnap people they don't know.'
One woman said, 'I didn't know my husband when I got married. The second time I met him was on the bed.' While many women have actually been kidnapped and forced into marriages they didn't want, the idea of 'how am I going to find a husband if I'm banned? If I don't have Ara Kathu, I'll just stay single and become a prostitute.' It seems that there was also a woman who had it.
In May 2018, there was an incident in which a woman caught in Ara Kachu was stabbed to death by the other man. increase. However, Nurkiyazova said, ``The people of Kyrgyz were shocked by the murder, but not so much by the fact that the marriage was kidnapped.'' I recalled the current situation.
Related Posts:
in Posted by log1p_kr