One-year-old boy married to dog in Orissa

DOG's DAY OUT: The canine bride was fed with a bread and pieces of mutton.

Other stories in the section:

Pregnant 'man' gives birth to a child

People magazine reported Thomas Beatie had a beti.

• 12-year-old wins car for perfect school attendance

Featured Blog

Sagarika Ghose

Red Letter Day

Featured Slideshows

Related Headlines

powered by

• Pregnant 'man' gives birth to a child
• 12-year-old wins car for perfect school attendance

Keywords: Wedding, Dog

Bhubaneswar: Driven by superstition, the family of a one-year-old boy married him off to a dog to keep him free from diseases all his life in Orissa's tribal-dominated Jagatsinghpur district.

The wedding was organised at Munda Sahi of Jagatsinghpur town, only 30 meters away from the district collector's residence.

District Collector Dr PK Meherda said that the incident could be the outcome of the tribal belief.

The infant groom was identified as Sipu, son of Radha Mohan Singh and the six-month-old canine bride was named Moti. The dog was attired in a yellow saree, while the groom was sitting next to her.

A tribal priest performed the rituals in the presence cheering villagers.

The boy's father said he decided to marry off his son to a dog in the belief that this would ensure disease free life of him.

"This is not new in tribal society. We do it when the male infant gets his first tooth," Singh said adding that he would look after both his son as well as his daughter-in-law.

Guests were invited for a feast after the wedding.

A visibly happy groom's mother Gita Singh said that she would feed her bahu (daughter-in-law) like a child.

"The female canine will ward off all evils from my son," she said.

The canine bride was fed with a bread and pieces of mutton while the boy was given a feeding bottle containing milk.

A radio set, a gold ring and other household articles were also given as dowry to the groom.