Have you ever heard of bride kidnapping? Bride kidnapping commonly known as bride-napping is the use of force to marry someone. This happens in Kyrgyzstan and causes women to be married to men that they don’t even know. Usually, one woman is followed in the street by a group of males, in which one has the intent to marry her and make her his bride. Luckily, an American journalist, Thomas Morton, was able to document the process of bride-napping. He met up with one guy, Kubanti, who was on the market for bride-napping. Morton promised to take the marriage photos on the day of the wedding, if in exchange he could document the bride-napping.

Based on the documentary Kubanti and his friends decided to plan the kidnapping by arranging a plan with the friend of the soon-to-be-bride. They planned to lure her to the watering well, where they could execute the kidnapping. The bride’s best friend agrees to the plan, and the men are successfully able to capture the soon-to-be-bride along with her friend to make the kidnapping seem more believable.

Throughout the drive, the bride, Nurugul, constantly tries to fight her way out of the arms of the five men who were holding her down. Terrified for her life, she calls out her mother for help. Once she reaches the village, the women from the groom’s family try to force her to wear the bridal scarf. After constant struggles to free herself from the women, she finally accepted her fate, and finally allowed them to put the scarf on her. The groom’s family goes to the bride’s family and offers a sheep as an offering to be forgiven for their actions. The groom’s family is already aware that nothing can be done at this point because she is a married woman. Once the bride’s family accepts the offering, the preparation for the marriage ceremony is made official. Many Kyrgyzstani’s believe as though a family is losing a daughter another is gaining a wife, even though, neither the daughter or the so-called wife is in agreement with the actions of the groom.

Although this is a tradition that the people of Kyrgyzstan follow, I believe that this tradition is unjust. Many women are forced into marriages that they do not want to be in; many women also commit suicide later on in their marriage. I feel for the sake of the lives of many young girls; this tradition should be disregarded. Many Kyrgyzstanis tend to put traditions over religion because, in the religion of Islam, women cannot be forced into a marriage. I believe that the documentary successfully portrays how girls are treated in Kyrgyzstan. The documentary also raises the question of how girls are treated in the society and how many of their rights are being taken away. What do you think of bride-napping and the values that these people put on ancient traditions? #JustThink