In rural areas of Kyrgyzstan, there are estimated Researchers and rights groups say 1 in 3 marriages begin with abduction.
Unaware of the kidnappers waiting for them outside the workplace or home, the women are forcibly pushed into a car, often in broad daylight, and taken to the man’s village for marriage, they said.
Sometimes, these men kidnap the wrong woman. But once they set out to bring the bride home, it doesn’t matter who she is, as one of the fictional characters in “Ala Kachuu – Take and Run,” one of the nominees for Best Live Short Action at this year’s Academy Awards, discovers.
“Why did you choose me out of all people?” The character asks Sezym. Her new husband replied, “What was I to do? I was looking for your female colleague but I couldn’t find her. Back home, the wedding was already ready. I couldn’t come back empty-handed.”
Researchers and rights groups say such stories are not uncommon in Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian country of about 6.5 million people. In many cases, men kidnap women because they are unable to pay for a traditional wedding and are pressured to marry before a certain age.
Although ethnic Kyrgyz practices – known as ala kacho, which means “taking a young woman and running away” – are prohibited, they have seen a revival since Kyrgyzstan declared its independence from the then-Soviet Union in 1991.
Researchers say while some women agree to ridicule abductions out of tradition, many others are not. Forced marriage is considered a human rights violation by the United Nations, and Women who refused this were killed in Kyrgyzstan.
While the movie is a work of fiction, the comics are real. Director and writer Maria Brindel said she met a 19-year-old man during the casting process and he proudly told her that he helped his friends kidnap three women. He was not given any role in the film.
The third time, the man said, he and his friends had accidentally kidnapped a woman who had approached the corner where they were hiding at the same time as the woman they had planned to kidnap had arrived. This inspired Sezym’s kidnapping in the film.
“There are a lot of real moments, real stories, real faces in this movie,” Brendel said in an interview via Zoom from Zurich.
She said some of the actors had been kidnapped themselves, and “wanted to present their experience in this movie.”
Alina Tordomamatova, who plays Sezim in her first movie and hasn’t been kidnapped, said that in the past, Ala kachuu was seen as a “Romeo and Juliet”-style surrogate for couples whose parents didn’t approve of their relationship.
She said husbands would run away “if the fathers didn’t like the man or the man’s parents didn’t like the girl,” which later evolved into a kidnapping tradition.
Garkin Shadimanova, associate professor of sociology at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, said Ala Kachou isn’t just about men kidnapping women and making them their brides, it’s an organized practice that extends deep into families.
She said, “You take little girls into your house, your house, and your parents must accept them, and your other relatives must accept this little girl as a daughter-in-law,” according to tradition.
She said the groom’s relatives might pressure the woman to agree to the marriage. Some of the abductees are under the age of 18.
Although some women’s families may intervene to prevent the marriage from occurring, others may feel they have no choice but to consent for fear that the woman’s and family’s reputation will be damaged if she refuses.
“My mother had this experience when she was young, but my grandfather brought her home,” said Iberi Tuolibaeva, who lives in Bishkek. She said her mother, who was 22 at the time, had never met the man who kidnapped her. She later married Tyulibaeva’s father.
Shadimanova said that although there are no official figures, the number of women kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan for the purpose of marriage appears to be decreasing. She said the practice is under more scrutiny as a result of public awareness campaigns, heightened surveillance, and a growing understanding among young people that kidnapping “is not a good thing to start your first step into marriage.”
Legal penalties have also been increased. It takes more than new legislation, Shadimanova said, to make a fundamental change in mentality.
“Because when the parents say we don’t kiss, he can’t bring the bride home,” she said.
Misha Nelimiti Contributed.
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