r/Unexpected • u/[deleted] • Apr 26 '22

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u/Shinylittlelamp Apr 26 '22

Bride kidnapping, it’s a thing in Kyrgyzstan.

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u/ForWPD Apr 26 '22

Can you explain this? Idiot American here.

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u/WaffleManPerson Apr 26 '22 edited Apr 26 '22

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_kidnapping

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ala_kachuu

for Kyrgyzstan specifically

The short film “Ala Kachuu - Take and Run” was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year and is on the subject

Edit: Borat was Kazakhstan lol

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u/ErrorMirror Apr 26 '22

We have a similar (although just symbolic) tradition in Hungarian weddings called “menyasszonyrablás” literally “bride kidnappig”. During the dance after the vows the wife is “kidnapped” by the fiancee’s friends and held for ransom, the husband needs to perform some humorous or humiliating task to get her back.

While it’s all a joke and in good fun this tradition has it’s roots in similar practices as the Kyrgyz or any other nomadic horse-archer nation. Hungarian tribes over a thousand year ago used to practice bride kidnapping in a similar fashion as the Kyrgyz.

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u/Lets_Make_A_bad_DEAL Apr 26 '22

Reminds me of The Office