Reuters is reporting that a young boy in BHUBANESWAR, India has been officially married to a dog. A strange event to say the least, but there is a cultural reason for the oddity.
The boy, named Sagula, who is just over a year old, grew a tooth on his upper gums. The local tradition is that such a growth is a curse for the young man, which might result in him being devoured by wild beasts.
To break the curse, the tribal god must be invoked to protect the boy from wild beasts. Apparently the tradition has it that the way gain the god's protection is to marry the boy to some animal.
According to Reuters
"The groom, Sagula, was carried by his family in a procession to the village temple, where a priest solemnized the marriage between Sagula and his bride, Jyoti, by chanting Sanskrit hymns, a witness said.
The dog belongs to the groom's neighbors and was set free to roam around the area after the ceremony. No dowry was exchanged, the witness said, and the boy will still be able to marry a human bride in the future without filing for divorce" (Reuters)
Marriages between humans and animals are not legally recognized in India. This is strictly a tribal practice. The existence of such a practice raises an interesting question, how much variation has the concept of marriage seen in different times and place. Maybe marriage is a far for variable concept in social practices then we might have imagined. Just a thought.
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