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Ala Kachuu

‘A Happy Marriage Begins by Crying’: Kyrgyzstan’s Tradition of Kidnapping and Raping Brides

Kyrgyzstan’s Brutal Tradition of Kidnapping and Raping Brides

The future husband rapes the young woman shortly after having kidnapped her (it is estimated that there are 2,000 rapes preceding marriage a year), thus condemning her as his wife, for returning to her family after that would be a deep mark of shame.