Adult marriage is usual, and if a husband cannot be found for a
girl who has reached maturity she is given to her sister's husband
as a second wife, or to any other married person who will take her
and give a feast to the caste. In some localities the boy who is
to be married is sent with a few relatives to the girl's house. On
arrival he places a pot of wine and a nut before the girl's father,
who, if he is willing to carry out the marriage, orders the nut to
be pounded up. This is always done by a member of the Sonwani sept,
a similar respect being paid to this sept among some of the Dravidian
tribes. The foreheads of the betrothed couple are smeared with the nut
and with some yellow-coloured rice and they bow low to the elders of
the caste. Usually a bride-price of Rs. 5 or 10 is then paid to the
parents of the girl together with two pieces of cloth intended for
their use. A feast follows, which consists merely of the distribution
of uncooked food, as the Dewars, like some other low castes, will
not take cooked food from each other. Pork and wine are essential
ingredients in the feast or the ceremony cannot be completed. If
liquor is not available, water from the house of a Kalar (distiller)
will do instead, but there is no substitute for pork. This, however,
is as a rule easily supplied as nearly all the Dewars keep pigs,
which are retailed to the Gonds for their sacrifices. The marriage
ceremony is performed within three or four months at most after
the betrothal. Before entering the Mandwa or marriage-shed the
bridegroom must place a jar of liquor in front of his prospective
father-in-law. The bridegroom must also place a ring on the little
finger of the bride's right hand, while she resists him as much as
she can, her hand having previously been smeared with castor oil in
order to make the task more difficult. Before taking the bride away
the new husband must pay her father Rs. 20, and if he cannot do this,
and in default of arrangements for remission which are sometimes made,
must remain domiciled in his house for a certain period. As the bride
is usually adult there is no necessity for a _gauna_ ceremony, and
she leaves for her husband's house once for all. Thereafter when she
visits the house of her parents she does so as a stranger, and they
will not accept cooked food at her hands nor she at theirs. Neither
will her husband's parents accept food from her, and each couple with
their unmarried children form an exclusive group in this respect. Such
a practice is found only among the low castes of mixed origin where
nobody is certain of his neighbour's standing. If a woman has gone
wrong before marriage, most of the ceremonies are omitted. In such a
case the bridegroom catches hold of the bride by the hair and gives
her a blow by way of punishment for her sin, and they then walk
seven times round the sacred pole, the whole ceremony taking less
than an hour. The bride-price is under these circumstances reduced to
Rs. 15. Widow-marriage is permitted, and while in some localities the
new husband need give nothing, in others he must pay as much as Rs. 50
to the relatives of the deceased husband. If a woman runs away from
her husband to another man, the latter must pay to the husband double
the ordinary amount payable for a widow. If he cannot afford this, he
must return the woman with Rs. 10 as compensation for the wrong he has
done. The Dewars are also reported to have the practice of mortgaging
their wives or making them over temporarily to a creditor in return
for a loan. Divorce is allowed for the usual causes and by mutual
consent. The husband must give a feast to the caste, which is looked
on as the funeral ceremony of the woman so far as he is concerned;
thereafter she is dead to him and he cannot marry her again on pain
of the permanent exclusion of both from the caste. But a divorced
woman can marry any other Dewar. Polygamy is freely allowed.