Survivals of the custom of marriage by capture are to be found in many
localities. In Bastar the prospective bridegroom collects a party of
his friends and lies in wait for the girl, and they catch her when she
comes out and gets a little distance from her house. The girl cries
out, and women of the village come and rescue her and beat the boys
with sticks till they have crossed the boundary of the village. The
boys neither resist nor retaliate on the women, but simply make off
with the girl. When they get home a new cloth is given to her, and the
boys have a carouse on rice-beer, and the marriage is considered to
be complete. The parents do not interfere, but as a rule the affair
is prearranged between the girl and her suitor, and if she really
objects to the match they let her go. A similar procedure occurs in
Chanda. Other customs which seem to preserve the idea that marriage
was once a forcible abduction are those of the bride weeping and
hiding, which are found in most Districts. In Balaghat the bride
and one or two friends go round to the houses of the village and to
other villages, all of them crying, and receive presents from their
friends. In Wardha the bride is expected to cry continuously for a day
and a night before the wedding, to show her unwillingness to leave her
family. In Kanker it is said that before marriage the bride is taught
to weep in different notes, so that when that part of the ceremony
arrives in which weeping is required, she may have the proper note
at her command. In Chhindwara the bridegroom's party go and fetch the
bride for the wedding, and on the night before her departure she hides
herself in some house in the village. The bridegroom's brother and
other men seek all through the village for her, and when they find
her she runs and clings to the post of the house. The bridegroom's
brother carries her off by force, and she is taken on a bullock to
the bridegroom's house. In Seoni the girl hides in the same manner,
and calls out 'Coo, coo,' when they are looking for her. After she
is found, the bridegroom's brother carries her round on his back
to the houses of his friends in the village, and she weeps at each
house. When the bride's party arrive at the bridegroom's village the
latter's party meet them and stop them from proceeding further. After
waving sticks against each other in a threatening manner they fall
on each other's necks and weep. Then two spears are planted to make
an arch before the door, and the bridegroom pushes the bride through
these from behind, hitting her to make her go through, while she hangs
back and feigns reluctance. In Mandla the bride sometimes rides to the
wedding on the shoulders of her sister's husband, and it is supposed
that she never gets down all the way.