In rural Kyrgyzstan, tradition is king. Polo still toyed with freshly killed goats, and men still took wives the old-fashioned way: kidnapping them from the street and forcing them to be their wives.
Basically, here’s how it works: the groom-to-be gathers his friends in a car or van, drives to or near the bride-to-be’s home, then picks her up and drags her into the van, kicking and screaming away Her family member.
While the tradition of kidnapping brides is illegal in Kyrgyzstan, authorities have largely ignored the law. Almost half of all marriages in rural Kyrgyzstan are the result of this custom, most often justified as “tradition”.
Vice travels to the Kyrgyz countryside to follow/help and support a young groom named Kubanti as he surprises his teenage girlfriend Nazgul with a wedding/kidnapping gift.
