Wedding Day Ragging – A Trigger To Marital ...

Wedding Day Ragging – A Trigger To Marital Disputes? An Explorative Study Based In Kerala

Author Name : Dr. Jayadevan P. V

ABSTACT

Wedding day ragging is a wicked practice in certain states of India, including in Kerala as a means to intimidate the couple on the day or previous day who enters marital life. The ways of ragging include forcing unusual dress code, unusual travel mode, verbal abuse, display  of placards with comic illustrations and humorous punch lines, banners with photos of groom's ex-girl friends or distribute notices about groom's illegal affairs, hiring drama actress to act as grooms ex -lover, physical abuse, etc.  In some areas, ragging starts on pre-wedding day, mostly drinking alcohol and singing abusive songs causing inconvenience to the guests. Goals of the raggers include fun, time pass, revenge, intimidation, etc. This study explores, adopting thematic appreciation, the short term and long term impacts of wedding day ragging on couples. A total number of 252 participants including couples, their neighbours, relatives and friends were selected as subjects applying purposive convenient sampling technique. The result shows the adverse impacts ranging from psychological distresses like anxiety, depression, etc. to marital disputes and in few cases, subsequent divorce. Brides are more affected than the grooms. The couples are direct victims and their parents are indirect victims who suffered psychological disturbances. In rare cases, it causes physiological harm.

Key Words: Couple, Disputes, Divorce, Ragging, Wedding