Ala Kachuu – Bride Stealing
One aspect of Kyrgyz Culture which has come to the attention of the West is the practice of Ala Kachuu – or “Bride Stealing”.
It appears that this tradition stems from the times of nomadic culture and lifestyle of the past where people were constantly on the move from one pasture (jailoo) to another. (It is also found in Kazakh traditions – but not in Uzbek or Uighur – both sedentary cultures – and in other parts of the world).
Ala Kachuu is technically illegal, punishable by two years imprisonment. It is said that in olden times the Dzhigits that carried off a bride would be subject to severe punishments – even including facing the death penalty – and history recounts examples of stoning and young men being thrown from the top of minarets for the audacity of stealing another man’s daughter. The practice remained illegal for the whole of the Soviet period, but this does not seem to have wiped out the practice. Very few families bring charges and the practice still seems to be accepted in the more remote rural districts and is even said to be on the increase.
A young Kyrgyz man simply has to carry off their chosen bride, cross the threshold of their home where the mother would place a scarf (a “djulook”) over the head of the “unsuspecting” girl who was then considered married.
Even amongst the Kyrgyz themselves there seems to be a wide variety of attitudes towards the practice – and there is some confusion about what is actually meant by the term Ala Kachuu. The research, referred to below, found that some of the participants not only consent to the event but even participate in the arrangements. Such consensual pairings can hardly be called “kidnapping”. In other cases, the act is accompanied by violence – even rape – and, indeed, it is traditional for the girl to resist. Some people seem to be of the opinion that it is a traditional practice that shouldn’t be questioned. There is even the point of view that it is a tool of “liberation” – allowing the participants to assume control over whom they chose to marry – and thus freeing themselves from other forms of tradition that grants the power of arranging marriages to the parents.
Several reasons are given for someone deciding to “kidnap” their bride – from “it is a tradition”; to prevent someone else from marrying her; because the parents might not agree to the union; (or even that the bride might not agree); because the groom could afford the dowry, (kalym, or “bride price”); and even because the groom’s first choice had been kidnapped by another.
Because, sometimes, the couple have made a prior agreement, when they first hear about the custom Westerners think it is similar to an elopement – like “running off to Gretna Green” – but it is possible that the couple never to have even spoken to each other. Sometimes the couple have never even met – as in an “arranged marriage”, the parents of the couple have come to an agreement.
For the girl to then run away home was considered a great disgrace and girls who do so are often shunned by even their own parents and as a result, many “stolen brides” accept their fate.
Stealing his bride, however, does not excuse the groom from paying “kalim” (“bride price”) – a dowry to the girl’s family – usually in the form of livestock, (sheep, horses, cattle … ), but other articles are also given. According to one source – the price of a bride can be as much as five horses – but a lot may depend upon the status of the relative families. He also has to pay for the wedding ceremony. (In sedentary societies – Uzbek and Uighur – it is usually the bride’s family that pay the dowry to the husband).
The couple still have to register the marriage or the bride has limited rights as a “common law wife” – but not all do so.
In recent years the practice has come under renewed attention.
In 2004, a local newspaper reported that an American Sociologist has undertaken the first serious scientific research into the practice. Having read about the practice on the internet, Russel Kleinbach (who teaches at the American University of Central Asia, found out that nobody in the country had made any significant study in the subject. The results of his research showed that the number of forced marriages has increased in recent years. At the end of the 1940’s they amounted to thirteen per cent of total marriages, now the number has doubled. In one village alone, the researchers counted 385 cases of bride kidnapping! In all of these cases, the marriages were without the consent of the girls – and none of them even tried to protect her rights. The article describing their research is available on the internet at: http://faculty.philau.edu/kleinbachr/new_page_1.htm.
A number of non-government organizations (NGOs) have been conducting research and operate programmes aimed at bringing it to an end. They point out that it occurs mainly in the Northern and Central parts of the country; that “city girls” are less likely to accept their fate than their “country cousins”; that about 62% of the “stolen brides” were taken by force against their wishes, and on many occasions the groom and his party were “drunk”; many of the brides are subject to humiliation and domestic violence (about 35% according to one source); and that many of the marriages end up in divorce.
Bishkek