Sororate Marriage Meaning Definition Customs Laws

What Is The Meaning Or Definition Of Sororate Marriage:

Sororate marriage means or is defined as the practice of social norm in which a husband of a deceased or infertile woman is obliged or even forced to marry or engage in sexual relations with the wife’s sister. Such norms are mostly outdated, but they still exist in some sections of society.

Sororate Marriage Main Rationale:

Let's say if a man's wife dies, leaving the widow with children to raise, which may not be sustainable due to the lack of a motherly figure. Things get a lot more ugly if the man is not capable of raising young children all by himself, taking a significant emotional toll, which may lead to a negative effect on the children. Moreover, there can be serious psychological and emotional loss, for the husband to be alone and for the children to lose their mother. If the man has more than one child, it makes it less likely for him to find another woman for remarriage. The rules of sororate come to the rescue in such conditions. In sororate, if a man's wife dies, he is given the option to marry his deceased wife's sister, or another female in her dead wife's lineage.

Sororate Marriage Basic Principles:

Sororate marriage requires that a woman is supposed to and expected to marry the childless widow of her deceased sister in order to produce children. If a woman dies and has no child, then the dead sister's widow is given the first option to marry his deceased wife's sister or kin as opposed to another outside woman. His dead wife's sister is expected to be with him as a wife, and execute all the duties that his sister did. When there is a child born, then that child is supposed to carry the name of the husband and deceased sister, and not the alive sister.

Sororate Marriage When The Sister In Law Refuses To Marry:

In case if the sister of the deceased wife refuses to marry the widow, then the widow is supposed to follow a process in front of the elders. He informs all elders that his dead wife's sister has refused to marry him, and the sister has to admit that she has refused to marry him. After all this, he is free to marry any other woman that he desires.

Sororate Marriage Sister-In-Law Qualifications:

In case the sister-in-law is under the age of 13 and hence is not capable of performing the duties of a wife, then the widow must wait until the time when she reaches adulthood. The sister-in-law must be already born at the time of the death of her sister, and it did not apply to one born after his wife's death. Moreover, both sisters must have the same father. Both these conditions must be fulfilled, or else the childless widow was free to marry anyone he chooses.

Sororate Marriage Means Or Defined As Practice Or Norm In Which The Husband Of A Deceased Woman Is Obliged And Forced To Marry His Wife’s Sister As Per The Sororate Customs And Laws