LILLE (France): A French court has granted a marriage annulment to a Muslim man on the grounds that his wife had lied about her virginity, the husband’s lawyer said on Thursday.

The court in the city of Lille in northern France granted the request after ruling that the husband had entered into marriage under false pretences and that the woman’s virginity was a “determining factor” in his decision to marry her.

Lawyer Xavier Labbee said the man had requested an annulment instead of divorce because “divorce entails a failure to live up to the obligations of marriage.

In this instance, there was a flaw from the start.” The man suspected that his new bride, also a Muslim, was not a virgin.

The woman later admitted to him that she had had sexual intercourse before their marriage, said Labbee.

The annulment was granted in April.—AFP