Consanguineous Marriages in the Sikh Community of Swat, NWFP, Pakistan

Marriages among the Sikh minority of the Districts of Swat, Bunair and Shangla (NWFP, Pakistan) were studied where the frequency of consanguineous marriages was found to be 21%. Marriages with distant relatives were 29.4% in the population. The inbreeding coefficient for the population was calculated to be 0.0127. Only three types of first cousin marriages (MSD, MBD and FSD) were recorded. Marriage with father’s brother’s daughter (FBD) was not found in the population studied. Mean inbreeding coefficient was higher for the low socioeconomic group (0.0181) and lower for the high socioeconomic group (0.0125). The trends of marriages of the minority Sikhs and majority Pukhtun populations are mostly similar. An increase in the incidence of consanguineous marriages over the years has been observed. The per cent frequencies of premature mortality and abnormality among the offspring of consanguineously married couples are higher as compared to those among the offspring of non-consanguineously married couples.