Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament, the Mazhilis, has passed amendments to the Criminal Code in a second reading that introduce criminal liability for bride kidnapping, TASS reports.
The new legislation proposes a separate article—125-1, titled “Coercion into Marriage”—which would impose penalties including fines, community service, restrictions of liberty, and imprisonment of up to two years. In aggravated cases involving violence, minors, group actions, or abuse of official position, the sentence could increase to between three and seven years. If severe consequences occur, imprisonment could range from five to ten years, according to the Mazhilis press service.
Importantly, even if the perpetrator releases the victim voluntarily and no other crime is committed, they will still be held criminally liable.
The law also introduces penalties for stalking—defined as the unlawful pursuit, surveillance, or attempts to make contact with a person against their will.
Previously, Mazhilis member and head of the bill’s working group Abzal Quspan told Tengrinews.kz that fines for bride kidnapping could reach up to 2,000 Monthly Calculation Indices (MCI), or approximately 7.8 million tenge (around $15,000 in 2025). In more severe cases of coercion, fines could increase to 5,000 MCI (19.6 million tenge or $38,000).
“Statistics show an increase in bride kidnappings in Kazakhstan in recent years, especially in the southern regions,” Quspan said. “There is a common practice where couples mutually agree to stage a kidnapping before their wedding to save money on the celebration. However, we’ve also seen alarming cases where a woman is abducted off the street by a group of men she doesn’t know. They claim it’s a tradition—but this form of bride kidnapping is not part of Kazakh culture, as historians have repeatedly noted.”
From 2019 to 2023, 214 pretrial investigations into the abduction of women were initiated in Kazakhstan, but 201 of them were closed due to the absence of criminal elements. This was due to a note in Article 125 (“Kidnapping”) that allowed a perpetrator to avoid prosecution if the victim was voluntarily released.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev publicly condemned bride kidnapping at a meeting of the National Kurultai in Atyrau, calling it “blatant obscurantism” and urging lawmakers to address it legally. Following his remarks, work on the amendments began. After approval by the Mazhilis, the bill will now proceed to the Senate for consideration.
