While there are several traditions related to marriages at different places across the globe, Kyrgyzstan has a distinctive tradition which is unlike from the rest.
Here if a youth likes a girl, he first kidnaps her then rapes her and then leaves her in the same place where he had abducted the girl.
Fearing social stigma, the victim’s family members approach the youth and get the girl married to the person who outraged her modesty as per tradition.
Though the government here is initiating steps to stop this practice but people are still following this age-old tradition.
The rape survivors also keep quite over the sexual assault and never lodge a complaint with police as a result of which the crime continues unabated.
Though the government receives no complaint in this regard, it fails to take stern action in this connection.
PNN