Summarizing Changes in Olinala
While the people in the United States are learning to be more open to the crime of rape, the Olinaltecans have already experienced multiple changes impacting the mountain marriages.
They are now rare. In the 1950s, marital rape that began with the mountain escapade and was later protected by marriage has now turned into murder or exile for the kidnapper. The severity of the penalty matches the severity of the crime. In the 1950s there were a number of kidnappings annually, some of which covered up forced sexual intercourse or rape. In the 1970s, the number had decreased to one every two to three years.
Nowadays, the actions of the kidnappers are not glorified. A rapist today can not hide under the guise of marriage. There is no longer any code of honor for kidnappers. While many men admitted to me they stole their wives against their will, the wives revealed that the sexual intercourse then was not physically but situationally forced. Yet today, even the parents of the kidnappers reveal the truth of the crimes of their sons.
Archival records are suggestive. There are instances in which numerous young men in their twenties and thirties died on the same day. The reasons listed for their deaths range from loss of blood to heart attacks. According to verbal accounts, these deaths were a result of gun battles and executions. People remembered the places, days, and times of those murders. Even today, while some of the murderers are still alive, retribution is sought. These murderers cannot leave their homes: their only safe haven.