Post by Swamp Gas on Feb 22, 2006 12:32:23 GMT -5
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/02/22/international/i064456S85.DTL
Girl Weds Dog to Ward Off 'Evil Eye'
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
(02-22) 06:44 PST NEW DELHI, India (AP) --
A 7-year-old girl wed a stray dog as part of a ritual to ward off the "evil eye" on her and her family in eastern India, a news agency reported Wednesday.
Shivam Munda's upper teeth appeared before her lower teeth — considered a bad omen by members of the Santhal ethnic group to which she belongs, the Press Trust of India said in a report from Dhanbad, a coal mining town in the eastern state of Bihar.
Kundan Munda, a coal mine worker, said his daughter married the dog only to "remove the evil eye," a superstitious belief that some misfortune could befall her and the family, and that she would be free to marry a man later.
Friends and family participated in three days of traditional ceremonies and festivities that are part of a Santhal tribal marriage, Munda said, according to the report.
Girl Weds Dog to Ward Off 'Evil Eye'
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
(02-22) 06:44 PST NEW DELHI, India (AP) --
A 7-year-old girl wed a stray dog as part of a ritual to ward off the "evil eye" on her and her family in eastern India, a news agency reported Wednesday.
Shivam Munda's upper teeth appeared before her lower teeth — considered a bad omen by members of the Santhal ethnic group to which she belongs, the Press Trust of India said in a report from Dhanbad, a coal mining town in the eastern state of Bihar.
Kundan Munda, a coal mine worker, said his daughter married the dog only to "remove the evil eye," a superstitious belief that some misfortune could befall her and the family, and that she would be free to marry a man later.
Friends and family participated in three days of traditional ceremonies and festivities that are part of a Santhal tribal marriage, Munda said, according to the report.