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The film 'Stolen Brides, Stolen Lives' revisits RT Documentary's investigation of 2013 when the crew travelled to Kyrgyzstan to find out more about the tradition of stealing brides, known as 'Ala kachuu', or “grab and run“. Originally, 'Ala kachuu' was an ancient Turkic tradition. When two young people fell in love, but the groom had no money to pay the bride's price, he would steal the girl with her consent and negotiate with her parents. However, with time, the consent part was ignored while the stealing stayed on. According to various sources, at least half of the brides in Kyrgyzstan are married against their will. For Kyrgyz men, this is just cheaper. An official proposal followed by a full wedding will cost twice as much as a wedding resulting from a kidnapping. The girls are very poorly protected from these acts of violence. Only recently, the penalty for kidnapping has been raised to a 10-year sentence. Before abducting had even less repercussion than s
