The kidnapping of a schoolgirl for marriage has caused a stir in Abkhazia.
A Sukhum resident picked up a 13-year-old schoolgirl from school in the village of Jyarda and brought her to his home, telling the girl's relatives that he intended to marry her. The girl was returned to her father with the assistance of law enforcement.
The minor's father, Enver Uzun-Yakub-oglu, filed a report of her abduction. The girl, born in 2012, failed to return home from school on February 2.
According to the prosecutor's office, 40-year-old Mizan Dzhopua was waiting for the student in the schoolyard in the village of Jyarda in the Ochamchira District that day. He took the schoolgirl home to Sukhum in his car.
"Upon arrival, the latter's relatives were informed of Dzhopua's intention to marry the minor Uzun-Yakub-oglu," according to a statement on the website of the Prosecutor General's Office of Abkhazia. The office noted that the girl was taken away by police officers, first taken to the prosecutor's office, and then handed over to her father.
The news of an adult man's attempt to marry a 13-year-old schoolgirl has caused a stir on Abkhaz social media. As of 6:09 a.m. Moscow time today, users had left 92 comments under the post on the "Akhsny.iakhya" Media Club Facebook page*. Most commenters harshly condemned the man's actions. However, user Abkhaz Dzhopua, whom some participants identified as a relative of the kidnapper, left several comments cursing those who "write poorly, don't know the facts," and "don't know the details."
"The girl has been handed over to her father, good, but what about Dzhopua?" asked Milana Shakaya. "All responsibility lies with the man, given his age." "Let him be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law, so that others don't do the same," wrote Inga Ketsba. "There are no words for indignation," said Badri Dagargulia indignantly.
Early marriages are practiced in some communities in the South Caucasus, particularly in Azerbaijan: for example, in October 2025, it was reported that security forces disrupted the weddings of adult men and underage girls in the villages of Meiman and Baku. The practice of early marriage also exists in Georgia, and is particularly noticeable in areas populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis. In both Azerbaijan and Georgia, the law only allows marriage from the age of 18, but in the past, early marriages were tolerated by religion, laws, and customs, and in connection with women's struggle for their rights, they began to attract condemnation, the article states. "Early Marriages in Georgia: Tradition or Bad Habit?", prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".
On the newsabkhazia Instagram page*, a post about the kidnapping of a 13-year-old schoolgirl garnered 287 comments. Among the commenters were people who identified themselves as relatives of the participants in the conflict. User Khatuna Kuteliia (k.kuteliia), who identified herself as the girl's relative, stated that the schoolgirl, who is in the seventh grade, was taken from class, and Mizan Dzhopua was not alone. “They kidnapped her from class, there was a 50-year-old woman with them who put her in a car,” she wrote in one of the comments.
According to the user, when the schoolgirl's relatives arrived to pick her up, there was an argument between them. A serious conflict broke out between Dzhopua and her relatives. "There were adults there who fought more than the young people and who didn't want to return the girl to us. And they're also threatening us. We got our way, we took her back with all our might (...) he will answer in full for our nerves and insults," she reported.
User luckacarbone, in turn, wrote comments from the perspective of Dzhopua's family. According to him, the girl hid her age from her "fiancé." "When her relatives called and said she was 13, they immediately approached her and said, 'If you're 13, we'll take you back home.' She kept saying she was 17 the whole way," one comment read.
“Okay, she lied. We showed you the birth certificate when we arrived,” k.kuteliia remarked in one of the response comments.
“You should have seen what clothes the poor thing wore to school. When they brought her in and dressed her from head to toe, she couldn't have been happier!! I repeat, no one took her by force!! She kept saying the whole way that no matter what happened, 'I'm staying,'” asserts luckacarbone.
“Do you realize that a 13-year-old's psyche isn't fully formed? Just because she's from a poor family and didn't have any new clothes doesn't mean she could have been bought for a pittance?” - user oks_maychadze responded indignantly. "Do you live in a Shiite enclave where grown men marry little girls, dressing them in beads and new clothes??? No matter what a girl dreams up, she's a child. And a grown man who sees a child as his wife is mentally ill," added teia_arshba.
"Responsibility always lies with the adult. There's nothing to say. Firstly, it's the article, and secondly, according to Abkhazian standards, it's shameful. I don't know how it was back then, but normal relatives on his side would have returned the child with an apology," noted stellabiguaa. "Previously, people would be banished from the family, from the village, for this kind of thing. Why does everyone get away with it now?!" - wrote mimik25.
“This story has resonated greatly in our society (...) Well, first of all, we need to start with the fact that in some segments of our society, bride kidnapping, including underage ones, is still considered normal, and we all need to think about this; this shouldn't have happened a long time ago! Secondly, we shouldn't exaggerate and slander the person (...) No one touched the girl, she's fine, he wanted to marry her, he 'stole her,' but thank God she was returned safe and sound,” wrote dimaaaaagj.