Despite, the polygamy laws in urban and rural areas in India. There is a place, where men will marry multiple numbers of woman here.
This scenario of multiple marriages at the same time is observed in Denganmal village, 150 km away from Mumbai, in Maharashtra, the village has approximately a population of 500 and every man gets married twice, thrice or more than that. The strangest part of the story comes here, that is, the earlier wife of the man didn’t die or file divorce, they just live with him normally although his second and third wife becomes the part of his house and live with him.
“I did what I did only because of water,” Sakharam Bhagat, who has been married thrice, told a media channel.
These women, who live cordially with each other, are responsible for fetching enough water for the household.
Yes! You heard it right!
Meanwhile, the first wife takes care of the children she had with her husband, the following wives are merely responsible for fetching water. More the number of wives is, more the number of vessels of water that can be fetched. This ideology is followed in Denganmal village since ages.
Despite the other seasons, people face toughest problems in summer. The wells dry up and the cattle die. There is no chance of connecting to the villages nearby, this village is completely isolated and hardly has minimum water to survive.
Even, the only wells which exist in the convenient reach of people dry up during summers, giving them the only option to walk miles before they can lay hands on potable water.
Women of Denganmal has to walk to and fro which consumes up to 12 hours. Each woman carries at least 2 vessels containing nearly 15 liters of water each.
Here’s a documentary describing the actual story of the village:
The women who fetch water to the homes are entitled as the ‘Paani bais’ or ‘water wives’ they are often responsible for the presence of water in their homes.
Contrary to the hard times, the men of Denganmal often prefer to marry the widows or single mothers as their second or third wives, which specifically help those women to earn a social status and respect. However, the idea of respect and honor are stereotypic, the notions and beliefs of the countryside are hard to change.
However, the idea of respect and honor are stereotypic, the notions and beliefs of the countryside are hard to change.