Cousin marriage' doubles gene risk for babies: Study

[Razor]

Throughout South India, there is a common practice of girls being married to their maternal uncles. In case, the maternal uncle is not available, his son becomes the groom to his first-cousin.

This trend is prevalent among all communities (Tamil/Kannada), cutting across class divide: from the Royal families (take, Mysore royal family genealogy for instance) to the economically weakest sections.

Now that it has been widespread since centuries, is there any risk in doing that ?

How many states in South India have you lived in. Though there are similarities, South India is not homogeneous.
In TN, it seems to be pretty acceptable among the Hindus, do not have a clear idea of the xtians and moslems as far as TN is considered.
In KL, it is certainly not practiced by the xtians and moslems, the hindus do practice it (though not popular), esp the namboothiris (who have managed to keep the population like 1% of the KL population, all other states will have a higher brahmin %).
No idea about KA and AP.

 

[Das ka das]

How many states in South India have you lived in.
In TN, it seems to be pretty acceptable among the Hindus, do not have a clear idea of the xtians and moslems as far as TN is considered.
In KL, it is certainly not practiced by the xtians and moslems, the hindus do practice it (though not popular), esp the namboothiris (who have managed to keep the population like 1% of the KL population, all other states will have a higher brahmin %).
No idea about KA and AP.

I know a Kannada Brahmin girl here who said her parents were second cousins because they wanted to preserve "Brahmin blood"...whatever that means I don't know.

 

[Razor]

I know a Kannada Brahmin girl here who said her parents were second cousins because they wanted to preserve "Brahmin blood"...whatever that means I don't know.

To be frank I think back in the days this must have been the main motive behind these marriages, preserving bloodline and keeping the property to themselves, but at that time probably they did not realize its negative consequences.

 

[civfanatic]

Marriages between cousins in South India are mostly practiced by brahmins.

There is a joke that every Namboothiri family has at least one retard in it, due to rampant inbreeding.

 

[Das ka das]

Marriages between cousins in South India are mostly practiced by brahmins.

There is a joke that every Namboothiri family has at least one retard in it, due to rampant inbreeding.

With this you reveal more of your ideology. Should I inform you that there are unpleasant jokes about almost EVERY community in India?

 

[p2prada]

But, in my limited experience, I have not seen any of the problems (listed in wiki link) arising out of it, in Southern India. While I personally know a plethora of such marriages, in my erstwhile locality & office employees. I mean, it seems to be the only acceptable norm.

The effects are subtle and comes with inheriting a wide plethora of diseases. India sees the highest cases of hereditary diseases in the world.

Not everybody will tell you that you are getting married to a crazy woman, until after you are married. I have seen such things as well.

If it could lead to these issues, why are such marriages popular in the first place ? I mean, what is the rationale behind it...

Caste, community, religion. Simple reasons.

Imagine a Brahmin marrying into a Dalit family or a Christian marrying a muslim. How many such cases do you see?

If you have read Harry Potter, you will see that the pure bloods were a mentally retarded declining group of people with their insistence of marrying within the family, while the mixed bloods were more stable and smarter.

Further, it is common in Islamic societies, as well. So, do they experience any problem ?

Now, had they experienced any negative fallout, they could have stopped already, right ? I am clueless

Everybody experiences this. All humans. They are not always identifiable with just their exterior looks and behaviour. I know of one such inbred case, crazy guy. Comes from a family of inbreeding.

 

[Das ka das]

In most of the castes of South India the most suitable bride for a boy is considered to be his maternal uncle's daughter.

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