Facing a shortage of brides, citizens of an Indian state at odds with its neighbor has been forced to seek its help, due to its high female-to-male sex ratio. The number of young women in Namakkal has fallen since the 1980's because of rampant female foeticide-- according to many wedding brokers, such as Muruga Ravi, who has arranged scores of these inter-caste, “cross-border” marriages.
These marriages are taking place despite generations of politicians having successfully raised passions in both states over their boundary disputes. The paucity of brides had forced frustrated Gounder men to declare they were ready to marry outside their caste, despite years of cultural resistance against the practice.
“I could not find a suitable bride within my Gounder community. A broker got me a bride from Kerala’s Palghat,” said E. Ponnusamy, 40, a wealthy farmer. “We married four years ago and have not faced any cultural clashes. We celebrate Onam and Pongal and both of us can speak Tamil and Malayalam.”
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