Girl Gets Married To Dog After Village Elders Told Her It's For Her Own Good

In a remote part of India, young Mangli Munda is marrying a stray dog to fight off evil spirits that her family believes she has. The dog was found by the woman's father.

18-year-old Mangli Munda lives in a village Jharkland, India. She told The Daily Mail reports Munda said, “I am marrying a dog because the village elders believe that my evil spell will be passed on to the dog.

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An 18-year-old Indian girl has married a stray dog as part of a tribal ritual designed to ward off an evil spell. Mangli Munda, from a remote village in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, wed the canine in a lavish ceremony.

The wedding was hastily organised by village elders after a local guru led Mangli's parents to believe that the teenager possessed ill-luck and that marrying a man would bring destruction to the family and her community.

Mangli’s mother said: ‘We have to spend money on this wedding. ‘That is the only way we can get rid of her bad luck and ensure the benevolence of the village.’

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Her ‘husband’, a dog called Sheru, even arrived in his own chauffeur driven car, although he may not have been entirely aware what was happening.

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The baffled dog, Sheru, a stray found by the girl's father, was brought to the wedding in a chauffeur driven car and welcomed by revellers.

At the wedding ceremony, people danced to traditional drumming, while around 70 relatives and local villagers attended the wedding. 'Apart from the fact that the groom is a dog, we followed all customs. We respect the dog as much as we would respect a normal groom,' said Mangli's mother Seems Devi.

She said: ‘I am not happy with this marriage.’

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Mangli, who has not been to school, said she was not happy to wed a dog, but insisted that it will help change her fortunes. The hesitant bride said: 'I am marrying a dog because the village elders believe that my evil spell will be passed on to the dog. 'After that is done, the man I will marry will have a long life.'

The ceremony is part of a ritual in the village in which young women are married to dogs first, and then when they marry a man (as in, a human man) the marriage will be blessed with longevity.

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In this remote village in the eastern state of Jharkhand, the ceremony isn't unheard of. It’s just a tradition meant to ensure the longevity of a couple's marriage when Munda is eventually married to a human groom. And, hopefully, her next husband won't turn out to be a dog.

And amazingly, this is not the first time that a local girl has wed a dog in the village. Sri added: 'Many weddings like this have taken place in our village and also the other neighbouring villages. This is a custom that we thoroughly believe in.' According to the village's customs, the marriage will not affect Mangli's life, and she will be free to marry again later without divorcing the dog.