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Bride kidnapping is a real thing in some parts of the world. It occurs when a man abducts and captures a woman who he wishes to marry. In Africa, it is most prevalent in the country of Ethiopia and even though it’s criminalized, and the legal marriageable age is 18 years old, many cases involve forcing a minor child into a marriage.
When a 12 year old girl from Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa, was abducted by seven men, her family knew she was the victim of bride kidnapping. They contacted the local police and began searching all over for her, but when a week went by, she was still missing. They knew the odds of them finding her were against them and were growing more hopeless and worried by the day.
The young girl had been secreted away to a hiding place by her captors who beat her repeatedly. Since their plan was to force her into a marriage with one of them, they knew the girl’s family and authorities were looking for them, so they chose a very remote place well off the beaten path. However, it proved to be one of the worst spots to hide out at because they were actually encroaching on a pride of lion’s territory.
When the lions nearby heard the young girl crying, they responded to the sound and came right over to her. A group of three big cats showed up and when the men who were holding the girl captive saw them, they got scared and ran off! The lions seemed to stand guard over the girl and protecting her from harm. They didn’t try to attack or hunt her down, rather they simply sat nearby and kept watch.
While many people who heard about the lion’s behavior think it was a miracle of sorts that the girl wasn’t attacked, there is a reasonable explanation for the seemingly odd occurrence. According to wildlife experts, the lions most likely heard her crying and mistook it for that of a lion cub mewing. That triggered an instinctual response to protect her and is why they approached her to see if she was okay and didn’t try to eat her. It’s also why the men were scared off. While just the sight of three lions would be enough to send them running, the lions would have also seen them as the threat they were and attacked them.
Whatever the reason may truly be, the lions saved the little girl’s life. They stayed by her side guarding her for half a day until her family and police arrived. Once they saw that she was safe, it’s like they knew their work was done and they simply walked back into the forest and disappeared.
According to police, four of the men who kidnapped her were captured and arrested, they are still searching for the remaining three. Though the girl was obviously traumatized by her ordeal and taken to the hospital to be treated for cuts and bruises that she sustained from the beatings, she was found and reunited with her family. If not for the lions, that probably would never have happened.
Watch the video below for the full story:
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