Marriage within the same gotra or section is prohibited, but with one
or two exceptions there are no other restrictions on intermarriage
between relatives. A sister's son may marry a brother's daughter, but
not vice versa. A man may not marry his wife's elder sister either
during his wife's lifetime or after her death, and he may marry her
younger sister, but not the younger but one. Girls are generally
married between 8 and 12 years of age. If a girl cannot get a partner
nothing is done, but when the marriage of a boy has not been arranged,
a sham rite is performed with an akao plant (swallow-wort) or with
a silver ring, all the ceremonies of a regular marriage being gone
through. The tree is subsequently carefully reared, or the ring worn on
the finger. Should the tree die or the ring be lost, funeral obsequies
are performed for it as for a member of the family. A bride-price is
paid which may vary from Rs. 20 to Rs. 100. In the southern Districts
the following custom is in vogue at weddings. After the ceremony the
bridegroom pretends to be angry and goes out of the mandap or shed,
on which the bride runs after him, and throwing a piece of cloth round
his neck, drags him back again. Her father then gives him some money
or ornaments to pacify him. After this the same performance is gone
through with the bride. The bride is taken to her husband's house,
but is soon brought back by her relatives. On her second departure
the husband himself does not go to fetch her, and she is brought
home by his father and other relations, her own family presenting
her with new clothes on this occasion. Widow-marriage is permitted,
and the widow is expected to marry the next younger brother of the
deceased husband. She may not marry any except the next younger,
and if another should take her he is expelled from the caste until
the connection is severed. If she marries somebody else he must
repay to her late husband's brother a half of the expenses incurred
on the first marriage. In the southern Districts she may not marry
a brother of her husband's at all. A widow cannot be married in her
late husband's house, but is taken to her parents' house and married
from there. In Nimar her family do not take anything, but in the
south they are paid a small sum. Here also the marriage is performed
at the second husband's house; the woman carries to it a new earthen
pitcher filled with water, and, placing it on the chauk or pattern
of lines traced with flour in the courtyard, touches the feet of
the Panch or caste committee, after which her skirt is tied to her
husband's cloth. The pair are seated on a blanket and new bangles are
placed on the woman's wrist, widows officiating at the ceremony. The
couple then leave the village and pass the night outside it, returning
next morning, when the woman manages to enter the house without being
perceived by a married woman or unmarried girl. A bachelor marrying a
widow must first go through the ceremony with a ring or akao plant,
as already described, this being his real marriage; if he omits the
rite his daughters by the widow will not be considered as members
of the caste, though his sons will be admitted. Polygamy is allowed,
but the consent of the first wife must be obtained to the taking of a
second, and she may require a written promise of good treatment after
the second marriage. A second wife is usually only taken if the first
is barren, and if she has children her parents usually interfere to
dissuade the husband, while other parents are always averse to giving
their daughter in marriage to a man under such circumstances. Divorce
is permitted for the usual reasons, a deed being drawn up and attested
by the panchayat, to whom the husband pays a fine of Rs. 8 or Rs. 10.