Intercaste marriage (ICM), also known as marrying out of caste, is a form of

exogamous Exogamy is the social norm of mating or marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which tw ...

nuptial union that involve two individuals belonging to different

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

s. Intercaste marriages are particularly perceived as socially unacceptable and

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

in most parts of

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

By region

India

As of the 2011 census, only 5.8% of the marriages in India were inter-caste marriages. They are slightly more common in urban settings than in rural settings.

Nepal

Nepal has many castes and inter-caste marriage is generally considered taboo. However, this kind of marriage has been gradually gaining acceptance. In 1854, the Government of Nepal passed the " Muluki Ain"

civil code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property law, property, family law, family, and law of obligations, obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdiction ...

commissioned by

Jung Bahadur Rana Jung Bahadur Rana, , was born Bir Narsingh Kunwar (1817-1877). His mother, Ganesh Kumari, was the daughter of Kaji Nain Singh Thapa, the brother of Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa from the prominent Thapa dynasty. During his lifetime, Jung Bahadur eli ...

. This law outlawed marriage between people of a lower caste with those of a higher caste. In 1963,

King Mahendra Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (; 11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until his death in 1972. He led the 1960 Nepal coup d'état, 1960 coup d'état, in which he dismissed the government, jailed other political ...

modified the law to abolish the "caste-based unequal citizenship". Since then, inter-caste marriage has been gradually gaining acceptance throughout Nepal. In 2009, the Government of Nepal announced that it would give a sum of रू100,000

Nepalese rupee The Nepalese rupee (; currency sign, sign: रु; ISO 4217, code: NPR) is the official currency and legal tender of Nepal. It is also sometimes abbreviated as N₨ or Re./Rs. informally. The rupee is subdivided into 100 paisa, although coins of ...

s (roughly US$1,350) away to couples who have an inter-caste marriage. The recipients would have to claim the sum within 30 days of the marriage.

Republica Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. They reached the height of their popularity from 1996 to 1999. The band went on hiatus in 2001 and reunited in 2008. The Republica sound was described by the band as " technopop p ...

, however, has reported that there was no "government assistance for Dalit women" who were left jilted by their upper-caste husbands.

Pakistan

Although “

love marriage A love marriage is one which is driven solely by the couple, with or without consent of their parents, as opposed to arranged marriage. While there is no clear definition of love marriage, the term was in common use globally during the Victorian ...

s” not arranged by families may be allowed among the upper class Pakistanis, among other social classes intercaste marriages are socially not accepted. A 2011 study that examined Punjabi women reported that women in intercaste marriages are subjected to a greater risk of violence compared to other Pakistani women in general.

Honor killing An honor killing (American English), ''honour killing'' (Commonwealth English), or ''shame killing'' is a type of murder in which a person, usually a woman or girl, is killed by or at the behest of male members of their family or their male ...

s due to intercaste marriages have been extensively reported by Pakistani media agencies.

South Asian diaspora

Intercaste marriages in diaspora communities of people of South Asian descent, such as those in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, are reported to be not prevalent. In 2011 an intercaste couple from UK claimed that their bosses had discriminated against them because of their relationship.

Religious views

Islam

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

does not prohibit marriages between individuals based on racial, ethnological, tribal, or caste grounds; though every marriage must still conform to Islamic marital laws that prohibit marriage of a Muslim woman to a non-Muslim man and of a Muslim man to polytheist woman.

Sikhism

Guru Amar Das Guru Amar Das (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਮਰ ਦਾਸ, pronunciation: ; 5 May 1479 – 1 September 1574), sometimes spelled as Guru Amardas, was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and became Sikh Guru on 26 March 1552 at age 73. Befor ...

was a proponent of inter-caste marriage, going against the social norms in Punjabi society at the time.

References

{{Reflist Morganatic marriage Exogamy Caste