A HUSBAND who found out his bride was not a VIRGIN when they wed has had the marriage ANNULLED.

The man, who has not been identified, claims the bride said she had never had sex before.

However, when he discovered that was a lie, he went to court to annul the marriage and a French judge agreed.

The ruling ending the Muslim couples union has stunned France.

The decision also exposed the shame borne by some Muslim women who break long-held customs demanding proof of virginity on the wedding night.

Lied

In its ruling, the court decided the woman had misrepresented herself as a virgin and that, in this particular marriage, virginity was a prerequisite.

Xavier Labbee, the lawyer for the bridegroom in question, says it was not the young womans virginity that was at issue.

"The question is not one of virginity. The question is one of lying," he said.

Some critics have blasted the ruling.

The court decision "is a real fatwa against the emancipation and liberty of women. We are returning to the past," said Urban Affairs Minister Fadela Amara

It is reported that the 2006 marriage ended based on "an error in the essential qualities of the bride, who had presented herself as single and chaste."

Public outcry has reached such fever pitch that Justice Minister Rachida Dati asked the prosecutors office to lodge an appeal.

What began as a private matter "concerns all the citizens of our country and notably women," a statement from her ministry said.

The hitch is that both the young woman and the man at the centre of the drama are opposed to an appeal, according to their lawyers.

The names of the woman, a student in her 20s, and the man, an engineer in his 30s, have not been disclosed.

An estimated five million Muslims live in France out of 64 million people, the largest Muslim population in Western Europe.