In Raipur a girl should be married before puberty, and if no husband
is immediately available, they tie a few flowers into her cloth and
consider this as a marriage. If an unmarried girl becomes pregnant she
is debarred from going through the wedding ceremony, and will simply
go and live with her lover or any other man. Matches are usually
arranged by the parents, but if a daughter is not pleased with the
prospective bridegroom, who may sometimes be a well-to-do man much
older than herself, she occasionally runs away and goes through the
ceremony on her own account with the man of her choice.
If no one has asked her parents for her hand she may similarly select
a husband for herself and make her wishes known, but in that case she
is temporarily put out of caste until the chosen bridegroom signifies
his acquiescence by giving the marriage feast. What happens if he
definitely fails to respond is not stated, but presumably the young
woman tries elsewhere until she finds herself accepted.