I its people. culture was atop in

Ihave researched further and read on Wikipedia that bride kidnapping is alsorampant in certain parts of Africa, Central Asia, East and South Asia, and evenamong the Americas and Europe. As much as I would like the practice to end, allI can do is to wish the women who get kidnapped to be blessed with a blissfullife because they do not deserve to be stripped of their freedom, whether theylike it or not, and live in a gruesome manner.            Aswe discussed further, we learned that in Kyrgyzstan, culture meant everythingfor its people. Culture was atop in their hierarchy of priorities; culture wasabove religion and law. Bride kidnapping, also known as “ ala kalchuu” whichmeans to take and flee, is illegal in Kyrgyzstan, but since it is part of theirculture, and culture has more importance than law, the custom is overlooked bythe government.            Our professor stated that onlyaffluent men involve their selves in bride kidnapping.

As I heard this, my naïveté led me to think that if love was notpresent in the relationship, maybe marrying for money wouldn’t that be as badas it seems – you’ll be free from poverty, you can live a comfortable life, have influence and experience other benefits that come along marrying formoney. Watching the short film further immediately reminded me of how the cruelthe world can be. It was revealed in the film that some of the women who werekidnapped for marriage didn’t get their fairytale-like ending where they livedhappily ever after. Some of them were unhappy with their life, some were hurt, offendedand humiliated by their spouse. Life simply became too rough for them tohandle.

Their situation got so bad that death was their only means of escape. Afterall, loneliness is more painful than being hurt. Apparently, claiming back yourkidnapped daughter would bring shame to the family since it is the culture andthe tradition of the Kyrgyz.             I first heard about bride kidnappingduring one of our class.

I never expected such ludicrous custom to exist in the21st century. Each country has their own set of laws, traditions andbeliefs. Regardless of how insolent a practice is, we must learn to respecttheir deeds because we are all different from one another. Beforethe semester ended, we watched a short film about a practice in Kyrgyzstanwhere the man abducts the woman he wishes to marry – bride kidnapping. It ispart of their culture and it has been practiced from god knows when throughouttheir history.