‘Scarcity of brides’ hits Old Mysore region Premium

Rural youth in Karnataka face bride scarcity crisis, leading to extreme measures and social initiatives for marriage solutions.

About a month ago, residents of Maduvanahalli in Kollegal taluk of Chamarajanagar district witnessed the bizarre sight of a youth perched on the higher reaches of a metal structure supporting the overhead high-tension cables passing through the village.

Notwithstanding the cries of his mother and pleas by other villagers, who had gathered beneath, cautioning him against taking any extreme step, the youth, identified as Masanashetty, 27, waved at the people and held the high-tension electric wire with his hands to be instantaneously electrocuted.

Though rumours abound about his failed love life, his suicide has been attributed by the family to their search for a suitable life partner yielding no result, a pattern that has become common in the rural hinterland of the Old Mysore region. Masanashetty had lapsed into depression following the futile search for a bride.

“It has become really difficult to find brides nowadays in the villages,” said Nataraj, a journalist with a vernacular daily in Kollegal, who has also been searching for an alliance for his son for the last two years, but in vain.

Given the scarcity of brides, particularly for youth engaged in farming activities, young men from different villages across Mandya district have been taking out padayatras to religious shrines in Malai Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills situated in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district for the last few years.

One such padayatra was taken out in March this year by a group of 50 young men from Averahalli in Mandya district to M.M. Hills. One of the youths, who was part of the more than 110-km-long padayatra, said seeking “divine intervention” in their quest for a life partner was one of the main reasons for their march.

“We will pray for good rains and a good harvest also. But, we will be seeking the blessings of the Almighty to help us get brides,” said the youth while expressing disappointment over the girls and their parents spurning matrimonial alliances from young men engaged in farming activities in rural parts of the State.