Across Region Marriages: A Sociological Study of Rohtak, Haryana

In the last decade and a half, the male marriage squeeze in economically prosperous North Indian provinces such as Punjab, Haryana and Utter Pradesh has led to men from these states to pay money to marry women, usually from underdeveloped or economically marginalized region in Eastern India. The parents of the girls, being extremely poor are unable to tolerate the expenditures of the marriage of their daughters. In these marriages, some poor parents also take money from groom at the time of marriages. The present study of across region marriages conducted in Rohtak (Haryana). In this study only across region brides are participates. The study examines the socio-cultural and economic dimensions of such marriages and also examines that how do such women adjust to a culturally different environment which is highly rigid and patriarchal than their own? The study reveals that the shortage of women is not common across all caste groups in the conjugal regions, but is endemic in dominate caste groups of Jats and Brahmins. This practice, however, is spreading to some lower caste groups also. The study shows that these unusual marriages are a consequence of the combination of factors like low sex-ratio, unemployment, poverty, little land, less education, handicapedness, second marriage, alcohol and drug addiction.