Resonance video provokes disputes about wedding party traditions in Chechnya

The Prosecutor's Office has launched a check after a video was posted on the Internet in which children requested a "ransom" from participants of a wedding party procession in a street in Grozny. Local residents and Instagram users have expressed conflicting views on the appropriateness of the ancient wedding party tradition in modern traffic conditions.

The Chechen Prosecutor's Office has launched a check after a video was posted on Instagram in which children ran out onto the roadway in the centre of Grozny in front of a wedding party procession, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has learned today from the spokesman of the Chechen Prosecutor's Office.

"The video captures a group of minor children, who, despite the flow of vehicles, run out onto the roadway to block the way of the moving wedding party procession. A check has been launched to identify the children and their parents for further proceedings," said the spokesman of the Chechen Prosecutor's Office.

As at 11:28 a.m. Moscow time on today, the post on the page of the Chechen Prosecutor's Office gained almost 4400 pageview, and 31 comments were posted under it. Authors of some comments expressed their indignation about the video.

"It's a miracle that no one was hurt," wrote, in particular, user fox_mulder95.

"It's time to stop such a begging," wrote user may15.00.

The Chechen tradition of "catching" wedding party processions has the same ancient roots as the tradition of shooting in the air at a wedding party, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been informed by Chechen ethnographer Khasan Aliev. "People block the road in front of a wedding party procession and request a ransom," the ethnographer said.

However, if earlier, "any old man" could stop a wedding party procession by putting his stick on a road, now children who block the road endanger themselves, Khasan Aliev notes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 21, 2019 at 11:29 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.