Norwegian woman married for a year without knowing it

OSLO (AFP) - It wasn't until divorce papers plopped down in her mailbox that a 22-year-old Norwegian woman discovered that she had been married to a Pakistani stranger for a year, Norwegian tabloid VG reported.

The woman, whose wallet had been snatched several years earlier, had no idea that her identification cards had been used during a ceremony at the Islamic Cultural Center in Oslo to unite her and the stranger in holy matrimony.

"I was shocked. I have never gotten married, and had no idea what had happened," the woman, whose name was not disclosed, told the paper.

The 22-year-old said she suspected that another woman had used her ID to impersonate her during the ceremony.

The Center's Imam Maulana Mehboob-ur-Rehman told VG that his congregation very carefully checks that people getting married have their papers in order, adding that the man must have duped both the congregation and the 22-year-old "wife".

She is now trying to have the marriage annulled and has reported the fraud to the police. Investigators have however decided to close the case as they have not managed to locate the man, who apparently is operating under several different aliases in Norway.