According to the ‘24.kg news agency‘ [only] 394 brides have been kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan in 2012. Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun said this at a meeting of the parliament Committee for Human Rights. He said that the number used to be much larger: “But the Ombudsman’s Institute, human rights defenders, journalists, and us – we all are working on it. We can see positive changes. Rate of brides kidnapping for forced marriage has decreased. A man who kidnapped a bride has been sentenced to 6 years with our assistance”.
However in the related article mentioned below from June 2012 number estimates are much higher: ” Since it often goes unreported, the actual number of bride kidnappings is unknown although Kyrgyzstan Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun estimates that more than 8,000 young women are kidnapped each year.”
http://eng.24.kg/community/2013/04/16/26656.html
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