Australian Bride Brings Pride to Low Indian Caste
Jan. 17, 2006- The marriage of a low caste villager to an Australian woman in the Indian state of Bihar has brought prestige to his community, who have for decades been battling their "rat eater" status, relatives said Tuesday.
"It is a matter of great pride for us that one of our villagers wedded a foreigner even when society looks down upon us," said Reejhan Manjhi, a cousin of the groom, Sanjay Manjhi.
The 24-year-old Australian, Erin Butlet, married Manjhi in a traditional Hindu ceremony in New Taradih village in the Gaya district of Bihar at the weekend.
The couple met and fell in love in the north Indian hill station of Dharamsala, home to exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, where Manjhi runs a shop.
They married in a civil ceremony at Dharmsala on December 27 but Manjhi, who hails from the Mushhar (rat eaters) community, among the lowest of India's myriad castes, wanted the union solemnised by his village.
According to the groom's relatives, Butlet has now become the pride of thousands of members of the Mushhar clan, who are Dalits, previously known as "untouchables."
"Erin had once dropped into my shop. I fell in love with her at that very moment," the groom told the Asian Age newspaper. "It was love at first sight and such was the intensity that we had a court marriage on Dec. 27, almost a month after we met."
The Indian constitution officially bans caste discrimination but the ancient Hindu system of the hierarchical division of society continues to dominate the lives of many.
"It is a matter of great pride for us that one of our villagers wedded a foreigner even when society looks down upon us," said Reejhan Manjhi, a cousin of the groom, Sanjay Manjhi.
The 24-year-old Australian, Erin Butlet, married Manjhi in a traditional Hindu ceremony in New Taradih village in the Gaya district of Bihar at the weekend.
The couple met and fell in love in the north Indian hill station of Dharamsala, home to exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, where Manjhi runs a shop.
They married in a civil ceremony at Dharmsala on December 27 but Manjhi, who hails from the Mushhar (rat eaters) community, among the lowest of India's myriad castes, wanted the union solemnised by his village.
According to the groom's relatives, Butlet has now become the pride of thousands of members of the Mushhar clan, who are Dalits, previously known as "untouchables."
"Erin had once dropped into my shop. I fell in love with her at that very moment," the groom told the Asian Age newspaper. "It was love at first sight and such was the intensity that we had a court marriage on Dec. 27, almost a month after we met."
The Indian constitution officially bans caste discrimination but the ancient Hindu system of the hierarchical division of society continues to dominate the lives of many.