There is no dearth of weird tradition in this world and one of them is bride stealing, which is still alive in Kyrgyzstan.The tradition is known as ‘ala kachuu’ or ‘grab and run’. In this tradition, a would-be groom would kidnap a woman he wants to marry. The unsuspecting woman is often literally dragged off the street, bundled into the car and taken straight to the man’s house where either she agrees to marry the boy or get raped.Once inside the boy’s house, female elders play a key role in persuading her to accept the marriage. In most of the cases, kidnapped women end up agreeing to the nuptials.Even the girl’s parents pressurize her to marry the kidnapper as she is considered to be no longer pure, making it shameful for her to return home.Although the practice has been declared illegal since 1994, authorities largely overlook such incidents because of which the tradition is still being followed by thousands of people.According to the ombudsman’s office, some 8,000 girls are kidnapped for forced marriage every year across the country.The Women’s Support Centre (WSC) in Bishkek puts that figure even higher at almost 12,000 cases a year. Most of these cases happen in poor and rural areas.Japanese photojournalist Noriko Hayashi has spent several months in Kyrgyzstan and has captured this weird tradition in her camera.According to Hayashi, many people believe that even non-consensual kidnapping is a tradition, even though it’s not.An 82-year-old woman told Hayashi that earlier boys used to kidnap girls consensually and they used to exchange letter before doing that.
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