Hindu bride
Polyandry, the practice of a woman marrying several husbands, who are often brothers, is an ancient tradition in Asia Reuters

A young woman has revealed her unusual marital arrangements - she has five husbands who are all brothers.

The 21-year-old housewife lives with all five spouses in one room, spending the night with a different brother on a rota basis.

The mother-of-one has no idea which man is the father of Jay, her 18-month-old son. Verma stays home while her five husbands go out to work in Dehradun, northern India.

"Initially it felt a bit awkward. But I don't favour one over the other," Rajo Verma told the Sun.

"I sleep with them in turn. We don't have beds, just lots of blankets on the floor. I get a lot more attention and love than most wives."

Guddu, the first brother to marry Verma said: "We all have sex with her but I'm not jealous. We're one big happy family."

He is her only official spouse, after they married in an arranged Hindu marriage four years ago.

However, according to their village custom, Verma also had to take his brothers as husbands. Dinesh, the youngest sibling married his brothers' wife last year, when he turned 18.

The wife with five husbands said of polyandry, an ancient tradition of taking multiple husbands: "My mother was also married to three brothers so when I got wed I knew I had to accept all of them as my husbands."

In Asia, polyandry is of sound economic importance. The marriage of all brothers in a family to the same woman allows plots of family-owned land to remain intact and undivided.

Linda Wolfe, an American grandmother, holds the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most married woman in the world. The 68-year-old has been wed 23 times. However, none of her unions have been lasting and she is now on the lookout for number 24, who could be Mr Right.

India