In rural Kyrgyzstan, tradition is king. Polo’s still played with a freshly killed goat and the men still marry their women the old-fashioned way: by abducting them off the street and forcing them to be their wife. Basically, here’s how it works: A prospective groom gathers his friends into a car or van, drives to the home or neighborhood of his desired bride, then ambushes her and drags her kicking and screaming into the van and away from her family. Although the tradition of bride kidnapping is illegal in Kyrgyzstan, authorities largely ignore the law. Nearly half of all marriages in rural Kyrgyzstan are a result of the practice, with the most common justification being “tradition. “Vice traveled to the Kyrgyz countryside to follow/aid and abet a young groom named Kubanti as he surprised his teenage girlfriend Nazgul with the gift of marriage/kidnapping.
