A Kyrgyzstani victim of bride kidnapping died last Wednesday: where's the outrage?
- Prisha
- Apr 12, 2021
- 2 min read
What: On April 5th, 2021, a 27-year-old woman named Aizada Kanatbekova was kidnapped by three men, one of which who was believed to want to marry her by force. This victim of bride kidnapping was found dead two days later, on April 7th. The cause of death was strangulation.
Bride kidnapping: It's the concept of marriage by capture or force. Often, girls as young as seventeen are kidnapped, once the guy decides he wants her. It's a common practice in south asia. It is most common in countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. This concept started out when these countries were ruled by the Soviet union. It was a means of consensual marriage, when the groom's and bride's parents did not approve of their union. The groom would "kidnap" the bride and then they would marry. It was essentially a form of elopement. However, this became a non-consensual and real kidnapping soon after. In 2011, it was estimated that between 30 to 45% of married women in Kyrgyzstan were married through bride kidnapping.
Additional thoughts: What hurts me most about this, the main cause of my outrage, is that no one knows. There are such limited resources about this on the internet. I wasn't aware of bride kidnapping as a concept until just this weekend. What concerns me a lot more however is, where is the outrage? When Sarah Everdard was murdered, everyone was out of their minds with concern. But when its a non-white country and a minority whose victimised, no one even cares. I'm not comparing Ms. Everdard to Ms. Kanatbekova at all, but my question is where is the outrage when this happens in a developing country, to someone who isn't white? Even if we cannot change this because this occurs in a place so far from us, its important to be aware of issues that affect everyone.
Use your voice and stay informed.
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