Woman Kidnapped For Marriage Found Dead Along With Potential Groom-Cum-Abductor

In a horrific incident of bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan, a 27-year-old woman has been murdered after being taken by three men who wanted to force her to marry one of them.

Aizada Kanatbekova, 27, was found murdered in an abandoned car Wednesday after she was kidnapped by three men on her way back from work on April 5. It is believed that one of the men wanted to marry the victim.

Kanatbekova’s body was found along with the body of the suspected murderer, who is supposedly the potential groom among the three abductors. The police said that Kanatbekova was strangled to death and the man died of self-inflicted knife wounds.

The security video footage showing the three men ambushing the victim and dragging her into a car before kidnapping her had gone viral on social media. Despite having been caught on camera with the car’s number plate and model, the police could not find the suspects until the victim’s body was discovered Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.

The police have now arrested one of the three men who abducted the victim.

Kanatbekova’s family said that she knew the kidnapper before and the family had requested him to stop harassing her.

“He is more than 30 years old. We told him repeatedly to leave our little sister alone,” a relative told a local news outlet, Eurasianet reported.

The incident has sparked public outrage as bride kidnapping remains widespread in the country. The controversial practice of bride-kidnapping involves a potential groom abducting a girl and pressuring her to agree to marriage by writing a letter of consent.

Some believe that the practice, locally known as “Ala Kachuu,” has its roots in ancient Kyrgyz tradition but has become chronic after the country gained independence in 1991. Despite being illegal, the convictions are extremely rare as victims rarely complain fearing social stigma.

Following reports on Kanatbekova's murder, hundreds of people rallied in front of the ministry headquarters Thursday asking for the Interior Minister and city police chief to resign. The protestors held banners and raised slogans like “Who will answer for Aizada’s murder?”, “End the femicide” and “Who still thinks that murder is a tradition?” Ulugbek Maripov, Interior Minister addressed the crowd and requested people to give the police time to investigate the crime.

“First of all, as a human being, as a man and a father, it was with great bitterness that I learned of the tragic incident that happened with Aizada. This is our shared pain. The public must develop an absolute sense of intolerance toward such cases,” Maripov said.

“It is impossible to be quiet and observe the violence that our women, who lack any rights, must endure,” local journalist Mahinur Niyazova told the AFP news agency.

President Sadyr Japarov called Kanatbekova’s death a “tragedy” and assured the public that the culprits would be punished. He also condemned the practice of bride kidnapping, which the country had officially banned in 2013.