The Indian Man Who Married A Dog To Get Rid Of A Curse

By Arun Shetty | Chennai

BIZZARE When the Indian young man Selva Kumar was 18 years old he stoned and clubbed to death two dogs he had found engaged in mating. He then hung their carcasses from a tree. That's the moment when he claims that his personal suffering began. His legs and hands became paralyzed and he lost hearing in one ear.

Fifteen years later, Kumar could no longer take the physical pain of the "dog curse," so he sought the advice of an astrologer. 

What was the cure for his maladies? "Marry a dog." 

That is just what Kumar did with a 10-year-old female dog named "Selvi." Selva Kumar had been hounded for 15 years by the memory of a horrible act he'd committed as a teenager.

As an 18-year-old he had stoned and clubbed to death two dogs he found engaged in mating. He then hung their carcasses from a tree.

That's when his personal suffering began.

"After that my legs and hands got paralyzed and I lost hearing in one ear," Kumar told INN Live.

Kumar, now 33 and living in the southern Indian district of Sivaganga, could no longer take the physical pain of the "dog curse," so he sought the advice of an astrologer.

Her cure for his maladies?

"Marry a dog."

Which is just what Kumar did on Sunday.

In a ceremony befitting a beautiful Indian bride, the bitch, a former 10-year-old stray named "Selvi," was bathed and dressed in a ceremonial orange sari with a garland of flowers adorning her neck. She was then brought to the temple in Tamil Nadu to be presented to Kumar by members of his family.

Kumar, sitting beside his bride, recited his marriage vows, declaring, "I will take care of it until its death." Then, the "couple" was declared married.

Deeply superstitious people in rural India sometimes organize weddings to dogs and other animals, believing it can ward off certain curses. Kumar's family hosted a feast — while Selvi dined on a bun. No word on where the couple would honeymoon or reside, or whether they had registered for gifts.