Jane initially met the man on the dating platform Muzz, where he operated under a false identity and hid his existing religious and legal marriage. The couple bypassed strict identification checks in Glasgow by holding an Islamic marriage ceremony in Brierfield, Lancashire, which holds no legal standing under English civil law. The presiding imam acknowledged administrative errors concerning identification checks, admitting the issued certificate contained missing and erroneous information. The man's legal team denied all wrongdoing, asserting that omitting details about his first wife did not constitute active deception.
Key points
Religious marriages that lack civil registration leave women without formal legal protect…: Religious marriages that lack civil registration leave women without formal legal protections under the laws of England and Wales.
Officiants face increasing scrutiny over lax identification protocols that enable predato…: Officiants face increasing scrutiny over lax identification protocols that enable predatory individuals to deceive prospective partners.
Muslim converts face elevated risks of exploitation when community oversight and proper v…: Muslim converts face elevated risks of exploitation when community oversight and proper verification measures are neglected during ceremonies.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
- Published
Five days after her Islamic wedding, Jane received a text message which turned her life upside down.
"I divorce you and have divorced you," wrote her new husband.
Jane - whose real name the BBC has agreed not to publish - said she had met him on the Muslim marriage website Muzz 10 months earlier.
At the time, she believed he was called Adam and that he lived in Manchester.
"It's very hard for me. I thought I was getting into a marriage and instead I got into my worst nightmare," she said.
"It's just crazy. I don't understand why people do this kind of stuff for sex."
Jane said they spent six months chatting online together and on video calls before agreeing to meet in person.
She told the BBC she believed their relationship to be genuine and did not question what was happening when he subsequently proposed.
"He made me believe that he loved me and that he wanted to build a life with me, so I had no reason to really doubt him," she said.
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