While polygamy is very common ritual among many communities, men from a small village in Rajasthan have a very strange reason for marrying twice. Derasar is a small village situated in Rajasthan’s Barmer district with a population of about 600 people.
Almost every man living in this village has two wives and the reason behind the same is very strange. There are about 70 Muslim families in the village. Although marrying more than once is quite a common affair in Muslim community, this is not the reason behind men of Derasar village marrying twice.
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 kilometre 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.