In general, polygamy or second marriage is not widely accepted. A man can land in jail if a woman registers a case against him in case of polygamy. But, you will be shocked to know that women of a primitive village in Rajasthan encourage their husbands to go for second marriage for a strange reason that will astonish you.
This might sound bizarre and strange, but it is true. Women of Derasar, a small village situated in Rajasthan’s Barmer district, allow their husband for second marriage. The fame of the village comes from its best-kept secret: Polygamy which is an accepted social norm among residents here.
With a population of about 600 people, almost every man living in this village has two wives. People in this village believe that men need to marry twice to have children. Villagers allege that there have been many instances when men could not have babies with their first wife, but were able to have babies with their second wife.
One such man had three children with his second wife after failing to get a child with his first wife. Such incidents have made villagers to believe that men will only have children with their second wife.
Another strange reason to marry twice is that women have to walk over five kilometres to bring water for their house. A woman cannot travel so much after getting pregnant, so the man marries another girl who can engage in household chores for the family, along with going for long walks to bring water. The ritual of marrying two women has been going on in the village for ages.
However, slowly things are changing for good. The new generation, who have stepped out of the village and have seen the real world, however, has shunned this practice due to fear of government action or maybe due to the growing literacy and education system in the village.
“Though, the reasons for second marriage differ in most of the cases, in reality, men of this village also wanted to carry on this tradition to earn more respect in the village,” a woman said.