Sagula Munda was taken in a highly decorated rickshaw to the house of the dog, called Jyoti, where priests solemnised the ceremony. The "marriage" was held in the tribal-dominated Patarpur village in Jajpur district.

Priests chanted Sanskrit prayers and hymns and there was an accompanying feast. The boy's father, Sanrumula Munda, said the marriages would help ease the bad omen of the tooth rooted in Sagula's upper gum.

Arranging "marriages" with dogs kept children protected from ghosts and bad luck, he said. The owner of the dog, Parakrama Munda, said: "This is just a ceremony to please the tribal deity - in the great epic Mahabharat a dog helped the Pandavas reach heaven."

What's that Lassie? Timmy's stuck down in Hell?

Tilly knew she was marrying someone with a poor pedigree.

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