A Munich court has denyied a divorce for a woman who was tricked into marriage.
They say that is because she was never legally married, so she cannot be legally divorced.
Anna K., 31, has been fighting for a divorce from Kulwinder S. since 2008.
Anna contacted a marriage broker that year looking to settle down and was set up with Kulwinder — a 20-year-old Indian man waiting tables in Munich. She told the broker she was uninterested, saying he was “too lanky.”
A few weeks later she received a letter and a marriage license from the Banja Luka civil registry office in Bosnia Herzegovinia, bearing her name and his.
Bosnia does not require both parties to be present to sign a marriage license.
Anna’s work timesheet proves she wasn’t in Bosnia to sign it, and Kulwinder claims to have sent a notarized agreement from India. Investigators have yet to determine who signed both of their names.
A Munich family court maintains the marriage certificate is valid even if the signatures are not, and thus refuses to annul the marriage.
It also refuses to grant a divorce on the grounds they were never legally married.
Kulwinder is currently under investigation for allegedly violating immigration laws.
