A Mexican mayor wed an animal resembling an alligator in a customary ritual meant to bring luck to his people.
Victor Hugo Sosa married Alicia Adriana, a caiman reptile, while performing an ancient ceremony.
The creature is called the “princess girl” in local history or tradition, and the mayor claimed that the two “loved each other.”
In San Pedro Huamelula, a village of indigenous Chontal people in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, onlookers cheered and danced as two persons exchanged holy vows.
During the ritual, Sosa said, “I accept responsibility because we love each other. That is what is important.
“You can’t have a marriage without love… I yield to marriage with the princess girl.”
He was seen giving the animal a head kiss.
There has been a caiman marriage ceremony between a man and a woman for 230 years to mark the end of hostilities between the indigenous Chontal and Huave peoples.
To unite the two towns, the mayor, a symbol for the Chontal monarch, marries the reptile, a representation of a Huave princess girl.
Caimans are indigenous to Mexico and Central America and dwell in wetlands.
Before the ritual, the animal is taken from house to house so villagers can dance and hold her.
The reptile is dressed in a green skirt, vibrant hand-embroidered tunic, ribbon, and sequin hat.
Her snout is tied shut to prevent any untoward incidents before the wedding.
Later, she was dressed in a white bride’s outfit and brought to the town hall for the wedding.