Interesting, a Hmong friend of mine told me that if the girl kid napped from her house she obligated to marry the kidnapper...you still got to pay though
Hmong culture Edit
Marriage by abduction also occurs in traditional Hmong culture, in which it is known as zij poj niam.[75] As in some other cultures, bride kidnapping is generally a joint effort between the would-be groom and his friends and family. Generally, the abductor takes the woman while she is alone. The abductor then sends a message to the kidnap victim's family, informing them of the abduction and the abductor's intent to marry their daughter.[76] If the victim's family manage to find the woman and insist on her return, they might be able to free her from the obligation to marry the man. However, if they fail to find the woman, the kidnap victim is forced to marry the man. The abductor still has to pay a bride price for the woman, generally an increased amount because of the kidnapping. Because of this increased cost (and the general unpleasantness of abduction), kidnapping is usually only a practice reserved for a man with an otherwise blemished chance of securing a bride, because of criminal background, illness or poverty.[77]
Occasionally, members of the Hmong ethnic group have engaged in bride kidnapping in the United States.[78] In some cases, the defendant has been allowed to plead a cultural defense to justify his abduction.[79] This defense has sometimes been successful. In 1985, Kong Moua, a Hmong man, kidnapped and raped a woman from a Californian college. He later claimed that this was an act of zij poj niam and was allowed to plead to false imprisonment only, instead of kidnapping and rape. The judge in this case considered cultural testimony as an explanation of the man's crime.[80]