Humiliation of Ingush bride leads to outrage and resignation of village head

A wedding in Ingushetia earlier this month took a nasty turn, after a friend of the groom poured whiskey over the bride, explaining that is was an ancient tradition to play a prank on a newly-wed woman. After the head of Ingushetia became personally involved in the incident, which was captured on camera, the father of the man resigned as head of his village administration.

The video, which shows the groom’s friend publicly humiliating the bride, forcing her to stand while he pours whiskey over her head, has gone viral in Ingushetia. Following the ordeal, the woman is seen collapsing.

Many in Ingushetia have reacted angrily to the woman’s treatment, and called for the man to be punished. Following the uproar, Ingushetia’s Interior Ministry was forced to make a statement that no crime was committed in the video and that they were not going to prosecute the the man.

The head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, on the other hand, convened an emergency meeting on the issue, where he sharply criticised the young people’s behaviour as ‘disgracing Ingush traditions’. He argued that this was fraught with danger of conflicts between teips (clans).

‘Showing your stupidity publicly while drunk is a disgrace to the whole family, or even the teip. Such actions lead to further escalation of any conflict between families’, Yevkurov’s press service writes.

Religious figures in Ingushetia who attended the meeting also criticised the actions of the young man.

Assistant adviser to the head of Ingushetia on religion, Magomed-Khadzhi Albogachiyev argued that parents bare responsibility for the actions of their children. ‘A father must be responsible for the actions of his child, whatever age he is’, he said.

After it emerged that the young man was the son of the head of the administration of the village of Ali Yurt, Rashid Gagiyev, he resigned immediately. Still, Ingush Head Yunus Bek-Yevkurov ordered the local Security Council to begin inspecting his official activities. It is possible that the father will face further consequences for his son’s actions.

Among Vainakhs (Chechens and Ingush), there is a tradition called mott bastar, according to which a bride can’t speak with her husband’s relatives in the first days of their marriage. Each of them is obliged to ‘untie her tongue’ by giving her money. The process is often accompanied by pranks and causticisms, meant to check the bride’s restraint and humility.