Man With 39 Wives In Northeast India Passes Away

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Zionnghaka Chana — who is known as Ziona — lived in the remote state of Mizoram. He was 76 years old.

While it is reported Ziona had a 166-big family, it is worth noting that a definite number of Ziona's wives, children, and grandchildren has never been officially determined.

However, the BBC did acknowledge that Ziona's family is probably one of the world's biggest families.

According to AFP, citing Press Trust of India, Ziona was declared dead upon arrival at a hospital following his struggles with diabetes and hypertension.

His family was quoted by The Hindu as saying that he had lost his appetite to eat last week and went into a coma last Friday, 11 June.

He added in a tweet that Mizoram and Ziona's village at Baktawng Tlangnuam have become major tourist attractions due to his family.

The governor of the Northeast Indian state also took to Twitter to pay his last respects to the late patriarch.

He attributed Ziona's self-reliant and hardworking community spirit to bringing much attention to the state of Mizoram, which shares a border with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The large family lives together in a four-storey house called 'Chuuar Than Run' or New Generation House. It has 100 rooms, reported BBC.

Ziona was also the head of a Christian sect, called Chana Pawl, that has around 2,000 followers who predominantly live within the vicinity of his village.

There is a discrepancy among reports stating whether the sect was founded by Ziona's father or grandfather, but it was reported to have been around since 1942.

The sect allows men to practice polygamy.