A report of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2020-21 says women in all southern states, except Kerala, are more likely to be in consanguineous wedlock than in other states.
Around 30% of ever-married women interviewed during the survey were related to their husbands before their marriage. Around 11% of marriages were consanguineous. The report also pointed out that young women are more likely than older women to be related to their husbands. It has also stated that women in urban areas are about as likely to be in consanguineous marriages as women in rural areas.
“Muslim and Buddhist/new Buddhist women are most likely to be in consanguineous marriage,” says the report, adding that the most common type of consanguineous marriages are those related to first cousins.
“Over one-fourth of women in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka reported during the survey being in a consanguineous marriage,” it said. In the same way, the report pointed out that one-fifth of women in Telangana and Puducherry reported themselves being in a consanguineous marriage.
According to the findings, 28% of ever-married women in the age group of 15-49 in consanguineous marriages were found in Tamil Nadu and 27 per cent in Karnataka were in consanguineous marriages. Women in consanguineous marriages were also found in Ladakh, Maharashtra, Odisha, J&K, UP, Lakshadeep, Andman & Nicobar, Gujarat, Bihar, Goa, MP and Delhi.