Kidnapped and Dragged to a Forced Wedding: Kazak Bride Screams as She is Bundled Out of Car at New Husband's Home... as Wedding Music Plays in Background
- Bride kidnapping is an ancient custom in Kazakhstan, and is on the rise
- But local women's rights activist calls the practice 'barbaric'
- Perpetrators rarely face justice through the legal system
Daily Mail UK, 14 October 2014
Video footage of an abducted girl dragged screaming and crying into a forced wedding has shamed Kazakhstan.
The disturbing clip, filmed on a mobile phone and titled Stealing The Bride, shows the moment the teenage girl arrives at the home of her future husband in Kazakhstan's central Akmola region.
As wedding guests celebrate to traditional Kazakh music, the youngster sits in the back of a car crying and pleading to be taken home.
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Snatched: A young woman is dragged screaming and crying to the home of her future husband
Forced wedding: The clip was filmed in Kazakhstan's Akmola region, where such abductions are a custom
In most countries, bride kidnapping is considered a sex crime. Local women's rights activist Anfisa Zuyeva, 30, called the practice 'barbaric'.
'No wonder people think we're backward,' she said.
The video shows the screaming girl dragged from the car and along a special bridal carpet towards her suitor's house as guests in smart wedding dress throw confetti over her.
She makes one final effort at resistance at the door to the home, pushing back on the doorframe, before a crowd of men and women finally hustle her inside.
Girl is kidnapped and dragged to her future husband's house:
Smile for the camera: A relative of the groom can be seen shamelessly recording the moment for posterity
Barbaric: The bride-to-be makes one last attempt at resistance before she is bundled through the door
Shockingly, such bride kidnapping, where a young woman is taken by force to the home of a man who wants to marry her, is said to be on the rise in Kazakhstan.
The groom-to-be hires relatives and friends who use deception or force to get the girl into their car. This can include offering to give her a lift, or dragging her off the street and tying her up in a sack.
Once inside the car she is driven to the man’s home where one of his female relatives prepares a special neckerchief called an Oramal which the girl must accept to show her consent to marriage.
Often it takes days of being locked up before the girl accepts and even then there are complicated politics to be dealt with when her family found out where she is.
The practice is an ancient custom in the region and there are various formalities to go through. In some circumstances the abduction can even be consensual.
Where it isn't, perpetrators are rarely dealt with by the legal system.
This latest video has been rounded on by critics who say the practice must stop.
Ms Zuyeva, who has campaigned against the tradition, said: 'This is a barbaric and evil practice that forces young girls into loveless marriages with men they hardly know.
'Often the families of the victims agree because the groom pays them a lot of money.
'But it is an outdated and horrific tradition which has no place in modern Kazakhstan.
MPs have now called for it to be made illegal, pointing out over 60 per cent of adults and 74 per cent of teenagers had either been victims of kidnappings or knew people who were.
Girl is Kidnapped and Dragged to her Future Husband's House: