Watta satta

Watta satta or Shighar (Punjabi: وٹّا سٹّا, Urdu: شغار) is an exchange marriage common in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The custom involves the simultaneous marriage of a brother-sister pair from two households. In some cases, it involves uncle–niece pairs, or cousin pairs. Watta satta is more than just an exchange of women from two families or clans; it establishes the shadow of mutual threat across the marriages. A husband who abuses his wife in this arrangement can expect his brother-in-law to retaliate in kind against his sister. Watta satta is cited as a cause of both low domestic violence in some families, and conversely for extreme levels of reciprocal domestic violence in others.

In Pakistan it is typically endogamous, with over 75% marriages involving blood relatives, and 90% of these marriages occurring within the same village, tribe or clan (zaat, biraderi). In rural parts of Pakistan, watta satta accounts for over 30% of all marriages.