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Afghanistan/South Asia
Girl married to dog to avoid bad omen
2005-01-22
RANCHI — Adding one more chapter to Jharkhand's history of blind deaf and stupid belief, an eight-year-old girl was married to a neighbourhood dog in the certainty that it would ward off evil spirits. The event in a village in Dhanbad, 240km from here, earlier this week included all the trappings of a normal wedding including a marriage feast and dowry.

The girl's father, Shankar Munda, was quoted as telling local newspapers that his daughter had grown "dog teeth" on her upper jaws which was considered a bad omen in a world filled with superstitous nutbags . "If the marriage had not been solemnised, our family might have faced some trouble," he reportedly said. Villagers showed little remorse, justifying the incident. "If she had not been married to a dog, it could have invited evil spirits and the village could have faced serious trouble," said Raju Mandal.
Okay, I give. Just how in the world do you drag people like this into the 21st century?
Posted by:Steve White

#13  This one's humorous, but too many of these sub-continental superstitions can be brutal or deadly. I grew up in India (I'm not Indian), and my older sister was raped when she was 8 by a guy who had the Clap, because of this pernicious belief in that area that you can get rid of VD by having sex with a virgin. She didn't know at the time why it happened, but she researched it later in life and learned about this lovely bit of "folklore".
Posted by: Xbalanke   2005-01-22 11:27:54 PM  

#12  Ah! That means the groom had an assortment of flowers.
Posted by: Shipman   2005-01-22 7:33:48 PM  

#11  The people involved are Hindus.
Posted by: Paul Moloney   2005-01-22 5:05:34 PM  

#10  A lot of women marry guys who turn into dogs. At least this girl knew what he was from the beginning.
Posted by: Dar   2005-01-22 4:34:05 PM  

#9  Yea, but who gets first dibs on the fire hydrant?
Posted by: Captain America   2005-01-22 4:14:10 PM  

#8  ...included all the trappings of a normal wedding including a marriage feast and dowry.

Er, including the consummation?

...his daughter had grown "dog teeth" on her upper jaws...

Don't almost all humans have canine teeth?

You know, I'm not really sure this sort of thing is condoned by Islam. I'd think that marrying girls to dogs to ward off evil spirits is the sort of behavior that Islam was meant to oppose.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2005-01-22 2:41:14 PM  

#7  LOL PD!
Posted by: Shipman   2005-01-22 9:22:36 AM  

#6  ...Waitaminnit....I thought the Moose Limbs HATED dogs...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2005-01-22 9:21:58 AM  

#5  Ick.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-01-22 4:48:09 AM  

#4  Dog teeth> At eight years...what she gonna bloom into?!

Dowry..Kibble and Bits.


Posted by: Judy Canine   2005-01-22 4:33:17 AM  

#3  Skip the omen, how 'bout bad odor?
Posted by: Captain America   2005-01-22 4:21:58 AM  

#2  Just how in the world do you drag people like this into the 21st century?

You can't. And you shouldn't.
Posted by: Rafael   2005-01-22 2:43:59 AM  

#1  Once I had a Usenet accident. I didn't mean to subscribe, download headers, and decode those pictures. My mouse slipped. Won't happen again.
Posted by: .com   2005-01-22 2:31:05 AM  

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