Despite the recent introduction of harsher penalties [1] for bride kidnapping and the efforts of civil society [2] to tackle the practice, the centuries-old tradition is still widely practiced in Kyrgyzstan. Blogger Ilya Karimjanov writes [3] [ru] about a recent mock abduction of a young girl in the center of Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek:
[D]espite the [girl's] cries for help and the clearly illegal and rude behavior of [the purported abductors], not a single person rushed to help [the girl] or called the police… Several young men watched the incident with interest. Some men discussed: “What is it? [Bride kidnapping]? It means there will be a wedding!”