Here comes the bride

Last week the Hindustan Times reported that an Indian man married a female dog in a traditional Hindu ceremony. The man said he chose to do this in an attempt to rid himself of a curse which he believes was inflicted on him after he had stoned two dogs to death. P. Selvakumar's family chose a stray named Selvi as his bride. According to Hindu tradition, she was bathed and clothed for the ceremony which was held at a Hindu temple in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The 33-year-old Indian talked to reporters and said that fifteen years ago he stoned two dogs to death and hung their bodies from a tree. He had been paralysed ever since and he believes that he was cursed for his deed. "After that my legs and hands got paralysed and I lost hearing in one ear," he told the Indian newspaper. According to the paper, Selvakumar was told by an astrologer that the only way he could be cured was by marrying a dog. The newspaper failed to say whether the man’s condition changed after the ceremony. This case is not unusual in rural India where people are very superstitious. Weddings between humans and other animals have been organised before as locals believe such ceremonies can ward off certain curses.The picture in the paper showed Selvakumar sitting next to the female dog. The bride was wearing an orange sari and a flower garland. After the ceremony, Selvakumar and his relatives had a feast, while the dog received a bun.