The first criminal case on stealing brides has been launched in Chechnya after the Russian North Caucasus republic's authorities banned the practice of bride kidnappings, investigators said.
This particular incident is not a "standard" bride kidnapping as a man abducted his ex-wife in the town of Gudermes. The woman escaped shortly after.
Chechnya introduced a fine of 1 million rubles ($33,400) for "bride-napping" a month ago.
Bride abductions are condemned by the Quran and illegal under Russian law, but some reports say the practice has increased significantly in recent years.
According to a BBC documentary filmed in Chechnya this summer, as many as one in five Chechen marriages begins with a woman being snatched off the street. The women are forced to marry their kidnappers to preserve the family honor and avoid triggering a blood feud.
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov declared on October 1 that the custom of kidnapping brides should be eradicated as non-Islamic, calling on police to take steps to prevent such acts.
GROZNY, November 3 (RIA Novosti)
