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Kazakhstan has finally banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect on Tuesday in a fresh bid to protect women's rights.
Bride kidnappings have been outlawed in the Central Asian nation where the practice - which sees a woman being abducted and coerced into marriage against her will - is commonplace.
Kazakh police said in a statement that forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, adding that 'these changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents.'
'Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated', the statement added.
The tradition inspired a famous scene in Sacha Baron Cohen's 2006 comedy, 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan', in which the main character kidnaps his long-time crush Pamela Anderson during a meet and greet, with the intention of marrying her.
There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.
A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.
The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistle-blowers.
The issue of women's rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.
'Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,' Tokayev said last year.