Kyrgyzstan: Fury over death of 'bride kidnapping' victim

We and our partners use technologies, such as cookies , and collect browsing data to give you the best online experience and to personalise the content and advertising shown to you. Please let us know if you agree.

Manage consent settings on AMP pages

These settings apply to AMP pages only. You may be asked to set these preferences again when you visit non-AMP BBC pages.

The lightweight mobile page you have visited has been built using Google AMP technology.

To make our web pages work, we store some limited information on your device without your consent.

Read more about the essential information we store on your device to make our web pages work.

We use local storage to store your consent preferences on your device.

When you consent to data collection on AMP pages you are consenting to allow us to display personalised ads that are relevant to you when you are outside of the UK.

Read more about how we personalise ads in the BBC and our advertising partners.

You can choose not to receive personalised ads by clicking “Reject data collection and continue” below. Please note that you will still see advertising, but it will not be personalised to you.

You can change these settings by clicking “Ad Choices / Do not sell my info” in the footer at any time.

Joliet_Jake_Blues on May 10th, 2021 at 05:18 UTC »

I watched a documentary about this and they presented it as more of the accepted custom. They followed 2 girls, both were abducted by male acquaintance's family members and then the women of the family took the girls and convinced them to marry him. Both girls were really against it but after a couple of hours of talking to the guy's mom and aunts (who said they were married this way too) one went along with it.

The other girl was against it and that family was meaner. She eventually got past them and out of the shack and left and they all called her names and said she wasn't good enough and that they'd kidnap someone better.

Pretty crazy for sure. They went back to the first girl a couple months later and she said she was happy and really loved her husband and the women who convinced her to stay (which was important because the women are together most of the day).

I can't imagine being a girl in this region of the world.

jtte27 on May 10th, 2021 at 02:37 UTC »

Real Stories on YouTube has a documentary about this Bride stealing. The girls are crying and fighting to get away and the "groom", his family and friends are cheering like it's a happy occasion.

MistWeaver80 on May 9th, 2021 at 21:30 UTC »

On April 5, several men abducted 27-year-old Aizada Kanatbekova in broad daylight in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek. One of them had allegedly been stalking her for months. Two days later, a farmer found Kanatbekova’s body in a car outside Bishkek. Police confirmed she was strangled to death. They said the body of one of her abductors was also in the car, displaying stab wounds that were self-inflicted.

Kidnapping women for marriage is a crime in Kyrgyzstan, but men abduct women regularly and with impunity. Kanatbekova’s mother said police had laughed off her plea for help after the abduction and told her she’d soon be dancing at her daughter’s wedding. It’s a stark example of the disregard police exhibit when it comes to reports of bride kidnapping. Their inaction is particularly shocking in Kanatbekova’s case because a witness alerted police immediately after the abduction. Street cameras installed as part of Bishkek’s “Safe City” project captured the license plates of both cars.

The case is similar to that of Burulai Turdaly kyzy, a young woman who was murdered by her two-time kidnapper in May 2018, after officers left them alone together in a room at the police station. There is a prevailing belief in Kyrgyz society that bride kidnapping, forced marriages, and other forms of domestic violence are a family affair and outsiders, even police, should not meddle, even though they are criminal offenses.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/09/another-woman-killed-scourge-kyrgyzstan-bride-kidnappings