Himachal woman opens up about her marriage to two brothers in rare tradition: ‘I was…’

Sunita, hails from Kunhat village, while Pradeep and Kapil are from Shillai village. All of them belong to the Hatti tribe.

Updated on: Jul 20, 2025, 13:48:39 IST

By HT News Desk

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A woman in Himachal Pradesh's Shillai village has married two brothers in a rare polyandrous ceremony, locally known as Jodidara.

A video from the ceremony has also gone viral on social media, showing one of the grooms holding his hand out for the bride to welcome her on stage. (X/@BalbirKumar23/@OfficiallyAmit0)

The wedding ceremony, which began on July 12 and lasted three days, was held in the Trans-Giri area of Sirmaur district and featured folk songs and dances.

Bride Sunita Chauhan told PTI that she was aware of the tradition and made the decision to marry the two brothers, Pradeep and Kapil Negi, without any pressure.

Pradeep and Kapil Negi also said they made the decision without any pressure. “We followed the tradition publicly, as we are proud of it, and it was a joint decision,” Pradeep told PTI.

Also read: Woman marries 2 brothers in Himachal to keep alive rare tradition: 'Proud of our history'

Kapil, who lives abroad, added that this union will ensure support, stability and love for the wife as a united family. "We've always believed in transparency," he said.

Sunita hails from Kunhat village, while Pradeep and Kapil are from Shillai village in Himachal Pradesh. All of them belong to the Hatti tribe. Kapil works in a government department, and his brother Kapil has a job abroad.

Who are the Hattis?

Hatti is a closed-knit community in the Himachal Pradesh-Uttarakhand border which was declared as Scheduled Tribe three years ago. Polyandry in this tribe is accepted by the society, however there are fewer such incidents. Though polyandry had been practiced for centuries, with rising literacy among women and the economic advancement in the region, such cases were no longer reported.

YS Parmar, the first chief minister of Himachal Pradesh also studied this tradition and completed his Ph.D on the topic "Socio-economic background of Himalayan Polyandry" from Lucknow University. As per the experts, this tradition is maintained to ensure that the ancestral land in the community is not divided.

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