Why do Indian Apatani tribe women have nose plugs?

The Apatani tribe located in Ziro Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, India, has a distinct cultural tradition in which women wear nasal plugs in their society

It is a dying tradition of women's faces being tattooed and their noses being plugged which has been discontinued since 1970.

Historically, the Apatani tribe experienced frequent kidnappings of adult women by attackers, with those women never being seen again.

To prevent kidnapping, the Apatani leader decided that beautiful women wear huge, circular nose plugs called yaping hurlo.

In order to discourage attackers from stealing based on their looks, Apatani women decorated their faces with dark tattoos and nose plugs.