What is Sagotra marriage?
The compound word ‘sagotra‘ is a union of the words ‘sa’ and ‘gotra’, where ‘sa’ means same or similar. It is common practice in preparation for Hindu marriage to inquire about the kula-gotra (meaning clan lineage) of the bride and groom before approving the marriage.
Is same gotra marriage legal?
Sixty-five years ago, in 1945, the issue was settled by the Bombay High Court which categorically declared same gotra marriages were legal. And that’s been the law of the land since. … The essence of the case was whether ‘sagotra’ marriage or marriage within the same gotra was valid under Hindu custom.
Why Same Gotra Marriage Probihated
The marriages under same Gotra are forbidden due to the close connection of DNA between a boy and a girl if they belong to the same clan. People who have similar gotra are considered kith and kin and the rationale given to avoid same-gotra-weddings are that genetic deformities may arise due to the closeness of genes.
Humans have 23 pairs of Chromosomes and in each pair, one Chromosome comes from the father and the other comes from the mother. So, there are 46 Chromosomes in every cell. Of these 23 pairs, there is one pair called the Sex Chromosomes which decide the gender of the person.