Decade old tradition of ‘Bride’s Aunt sleeps with groom to check potency’

One of the tribes of Uganda practiced an unusual marriage ritual named ‘Bride Aunt Sleeping with The Groom’ to check his potency before marriage.

Africa is home to countless weird customs and traditions, which may attract the public’s attention but are also weird too. A similar custom comes from one of the tribes from Uganda.

It might be surprising to hear that people follow this uncommon practice that might not be heard in other parts of the world.

However, it is this type of weirdness that makes them stand apart or different and kindle one’s curiosity to jab much into the nook and corner of African countries.

Banyankole Tribe of Uganda

A specific tribe known as the Banyankole Tribe of Uganda, an African country, has a certain queer practice of marriage. This tribe has been securing a minor position across other tribes of Uganda.

Notably, the word marriage has been associated with some weird customs and rituals that have been followed by this particular tribe for ages.

Interestingly, when it comes to wedding talk, it actually has something important to do with the AUNT OF THE BRIDE MORE THAN THE BRIDE AND THE BRIDEGROOM. 

Ritual: Bride Aunt Sleeping With The Groom

One could not stop himself from loving Africa for its natural landscapes; however, when it comes to wandering and knowing about the traditions and cultures of Africa, one would be shocked by the rituals of getting married.

During the marriages, aunties prepare their nieces for the challenges that lie ahead, but for the Banyankole people in Southwestern Uganda, the aunt has more to do, especially at weddings.

When a couple is about to get married in this tribe, the aunt of the bride should first ‘Sleep’ with the groom to confirm he is potent.

They followed this practice so that the aunty of the bride would first indulge in intercourse with the bridegroom to confirm his potency and his performance on the bed.

More interestingly, it does not end there; the aunt has yet another duty of testing the bride as well. The aunty should test and confirm the virginity of the bride, too.

Notably, in other cases, the aunty should also witness the couple having intercourse to prove the potency of the groom as per tradition.

This has definitely sounded a completely bizarre thing, but the people of this certain tribe have adhered to this custom for ages.

It is also believed that at the ages of eight and nine, girls are asked to go through a fattening process where they are fed with millet, milk and beef. This is usually done to speed up their weight gain so they can attract a husband.

One would surely realize how different Africa is from other parts of the world when individuals travel around the different places of the world.

It is to be noted that every tribe of Africa has their own traditional customs for getting hitched up. Some of them include “Bride’s Price”, which has been practised by a peculiar group of the tribes.

In this tradition, the groom’s family offers a sum of money to the bride’s family. There is also an African novel titled ‘The Bride Price’ by an author named Buchi Emecheta.