Divorce is freely allowed on various grounds, as for adultery on the
wife's part, a quarrelsome disposition, carelessness in the management
of household affairs, or if a woman's children continue to die, or
she is suspected of being a witch. Divorce is, however, very rare,
for in order to get a fresh wife the man would have to pay for another
wedding, which few Gonds can afford, and he would also have difficulty
in getting a girl to marry him. Therefore he will often overlook even
adultery, though a wife's adultery not infrequently leads to murder
among the Gonds. In order to divorce his wife the husband sends for
a few castemen, takes a piece of straw, spits on it, breaks it in
two and throws it away, saying that he has renounced all further
connection with his wife. If a woman is suspected of being a witch
she often has to leave the village and go to some place where she
is not known, and in that case her husband must either divorce her
or go with her. There is no regular procedure for a wife divorcing
her husband, but she can, if sufficiently young and attractive, take
matters into her own hands, and simply leave her husband's house and
go and live with some one else. In such a case the man who takes
her has to repay to the husband the sum expended by the latter on
his marriage, and the panchayat may even decree that he should pay
double the amount. When a man divorces his wife he has no liability
for her maintenance, and often takes back any ornaments he may have
given her. And a man who marries a divorced woman may be expected
to pay her husband the expenses of his marriage. Instances are known
of a bride disappearing even during the wedding, if she dislikes her
partner; and Mr. Lampard of the Baihir Mission states that one night
a Gond wedding party came to his house and asked for the loan of a
lantern to look for the bride who had vanished.