Can I marry my father’s sister’s daughter legally in India? I am from a brahmin family. We both love each other, and are nowhere close to the age of marrying, but we are in a relationship.
Originally Query: Can I marry my father’s sister’s daughter legally in India?
Being an Atheist means nothing in India. You will be governed by Hindu Laws. Marrying your Father’s Sister’s Daughter is not allowed as per Hindu law since you being Sapinda(born from same body in lineage) of each other just three generations back.
Such marriages are failures usually, considered incest in the most parts of India. If such marriages are accepted as customary in your own society/caste and you can prove the same then only your marriage can be legally acceptable otherwise it will be void
(considered as no marriage took place ever). Remember, you can still marry without telling this to anybody and live your life, your marriage’s illegality can be raised at any point of time till you live and even when you are no more.
Genetically, it is harmful to do such marriages too.
Thanks to Palash Shrivastava for pointing out my mistake:
In your case, you can not opt to marry before a marriage registrar because:
THE SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT, 1954 THE FIRST SCHEDULE [See section 2(b) “Degrees of prohibited relationship”] PART I 1. Mother. 2. Father’s widow (step-mother). 3. Mother’s mother. 4. Mother’s father’s widow (step grand-mother). 5. Mother’s mother’s mother. 6. Mother’s mother’s father’s widow (step great grand-mother). 7. Mother’s father’s mother. 8. Mother’s father’s father’s widow (step great grand-mother). 9. Father’s mother. 10. Father’s father’s widow (step-grand mother). 11. Father’s mother’s mother. 12. Father’s mother’s father’s widow (step great grand-mother). 13. Father’s father’s mother. 14. Father’s father’s father’s widow (step great grand-mother). 15. Daughter. 16. Son’s widow. 17. Daughter’s daughter. 18. Daughter’s son’s widow. 19. Son’s daughter. 20. Son’s son’s widow. 21. Daughter’s daughter’s daughter. 22. Daughter’s daughter’s son’s widow. 23. Daughter’s son’s daughter. 24. Daughter’s son’s son’s widow. 25. Son’s daughter’s daughter. 26. Son’s daughter’s son’s widow. 27. Son’s son’s daughter. 28. Son’s son’s son’s widow. 29. Sister. 30. Sister’s daughter. 31. Brother’s daughter. 32. Mother’s sister. 33. Father’s sister. 34. Father’s brother’s daughter. 35. Father’s sister’s daughter. 36. Mother’s sister’s daughter. 37. Mother’s brother’s daughter. Explanation.—For the purposes of this Part, the expression “widow” includes a divorced wife. PART II 1. Father. 2. Mother’s husband (step-father). 3. Father’s father. 4. Father’s mother’s husband (step grand-father). 5. Father’s father’s father. 6. Father’s father’s mother’s husband (step great grand-father). 7. Father’s mother’s father. 8. Father’s mother’s mother’s husband (step great grand-father). 9. Mother’s father. 10. Mother’s mother’s husband (step grand-father). 11. Mother’s father’s father. 12. Mother’s father’s mother’s husband (step great grand-father). 13. Mother’s mother’s father. 14. Mother’s mother’s mother’s husband (step great grand-father). 15. Son. 16. Daughter’s husband. 17. Son’s son. 18. Son’s daughter’s husband. 19. Daughter’s son. 20. Daughter’s daughter’s husband. 21. Son’s son’s son. 22. Son’s son’s daughter’s husband. 23. Son’s daughter’s son. 24. Son’s daughter’s daughter’s husband. 25. Daughter’s son’s son. 26. Daughter’s son’s daughter’s husband. 27. Daughter’s daughter’s son. 28. Daughter’s daughter’s daughter’s husband. 29. Brother. 30. Brother’s son. 31. Sister’s son. 32. Mother’s brother. 33. Father’s brother. 34. Father’s brother’s son. 35. Father’s sister’s son. 36. Mother’s sister’s son. 37. Mother’s brother’s son. Explanation.—For the purposes of this part, the expression “husband” includes a divorced husband.
Your case: Father’s Sister’s daughter come in item number 35 of PART I of the schedule of “prohibited relations”. You can not marry under Special Marriage Act too.
Now what you can do to live life peacefully as husband wife, legally. Despite all these, if you are hell bent to marry each other at all costs, allegations, cursing from the relatives and locality and ready to risk your children inheriting diseases, you have two options to legalise your marriage:
- Abandon all your relatives. Go abroad and marry there as per their laws.
- Both of you Get converted to Islam as they do not consider marriage even with first cousin an incest.
In both cases, you should be ready to leave your family and society forever.
Original Answer: here
