Night hunting
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In Bhutan "night hunting" is a traditional courtship custom that is practiced mostly in rural areas.
Young men go out at night to sneak into girls' windows to engage in sexual activities. Night hunting is almost always a solo activity; most night hunters do not share their methods. Houses are traditionally two-story buildings such that the bottom floor is for storage of farm equipment and livestock while the upper, more difficult to reach story is where the family dwells. Strategies vary from sneaking in the door to climbing up the side of a house to enter a window or even dropping in from the roof. The uniform architecture of Bhutanese houses, particularly the narrow ledges, overhangs, and small windows makes this process difficult. If a night hunter successfully infiltrates the dwelling, he still might be rejected by the girl he is pursuing. Common strategies to foil night hunting include dumping dirty or hot water on the night hunter or pushing them out the window. Night hunters commonly attempt to complete the task and make a quick exit, for custom dictates that a night hunter discovered in the morning by the parents shall become the husband of the girl.
Night hunting is discussed by author Jamie Zeppa in her reflections of her time in Bhutan in the book Beyond the Earth and the Sky: A Journey into Bhutan (1999).
