Ukuthwala is the South African term for bride kidnapping, the practice of a man abducting a young girl and forcing her into marriage, often without the consent of her parents.[1] These "marriages by capture" occur mainly in rural parts of South Africa, in particular the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.[2] The Basotho call it tjhobediso. Among the Xhosa and Zulu people, ukuthwala was once an acceptable way for two young people in love to get married when their families opposed the match (and so actually a form of elopement).[3]Ukuthwala has been abused, however, "to victimize isolated rural women and enrich male relatives."[3]
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