The laws, which were adopted in Kyrgyzstan to end appalling practice of bride kidnapping, are completely ineffectual. The International Human Rights Organization Amnesty International made such a conclusion.
Another case of kidnapping a girl in Kyrgyzstan prompted Amnesty International to make a statement.
«The Kyrgyzstani authorities must ramp up their efforts to put an immediate end to the appalling practice of «bride kidnapping.» The latest incident, which occurred on June 10, followed the kidnapping and murder of 20-year-old medical student Burulay Turdaliyeva in late May. These two horrific crimes have taken place within just 14 days of each other, suggesting that though laws exist to end this appalling practice they are completely ineffectual. The Kyrgyzstani authorities must step up their efforts to protect women and girls,» said Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International.
There is no place for abduction, sexual violence and forced marriage in any society; not in the name of tradition or anything else.
Denis Krivosheev
In 2012, Kyrgyz lawmakers strengthened the punishment for ala kachuu, the «tradition of bride kidnapping,» raising the maximum prison term from three to seven years. But the practice is largely seen as tolerated by public officials and law enforcement agents, who often ignore the complaints and encourage, if not openly force, the families of the kidnapper and the victim to «resolve» the matter amicably.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, 64 percent of policemen in Osh consider bride kidnapping as normal, 82 percent of them are sure that women are provoking kidnapping.
The 2016 UNFPA data shows that 6% of married girls and women over the age of 15 in Kyrgyzstan became involuntary victims of «bride kidnapping.»
