// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy did bride kidnapping go to therapy in Azerbaijan? It had a lot to "carry" away.

Bride kidnapping (Azerbaijani: Qız qaçırtma), has a long history in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, it entails a variety of actions, ranging from a consensual elopement to a non-consensual kidnapping, and the extent to which it happens is controversial. It is considered to be relatively common.

Kidnapping by itself is punishable by 5 years in Azerbaijani civil code, but it often goes unenforced in rural areas.

History

The Russian Empire and later USSR made the ancient practice formally illegal, though it often went unenforced, and was suppressed mainly in urban areas. Rejecting a kidnapping is often culturally unacceptable for women in rural areas, and is perceived as an insult to her family's honor.

Prevalence

Prominent cases include one in Qabala, in which 40-year-old İntiqam Nabiyev kidnapped 13-year-old Senuber Hacıyeva after a family dispute. Though the government has worked to suppress the practice, it has never been entirely eradicated. In 2019, a Georgian high school teacher from the Azerbaijani-majority region of Karayaz in Gardabani was made to apologize for criticizing the practice. Another prominent case occurred in 2020 in Barda district.

In popular culture

In 1985, the studio Azerbaijanfilm released the movie Bəyin oğurlanması, which deals with the topic. In 2018, there was a movie made about the practice called Qız Qaçırtma, directed by Rufet Shahbazov. It went on to receive two sequels.