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A Maldivian couple went to court to finalise their third divorce and then decided to make peace and remarry yet again.

The problem was the law prohibits a couple from marrying again after their third divorce, so they had to work out a plan to get around this rule.

Under the law the woman who has divorced and remarried her husband three times must marry and divorce another man before she is free to remarry her first husband again. The main headache for this couple was finding someone they could trust to act as this temporary husband.

They decided to hire someone, and their search began in the court building itself. It didn't take long. They met a man who had been summoned to court and he agreed to marry the woman for Rf3,000 [ US$260, official rate; US$205, blackmarket rate ].

The man agreed to this despite knowing that it was illegal to attempt to circumvent the law in this way. However, he needed the money because the court had just imposed a fine on him of Rf2000 which he was required to pay within two weeks.

So he found himself with the Rf2000 to pay his fine, and an extra Rf1000 to celebrate a temporary marriage.

The most important condition attached to the deal was that he must divorce the woman the morning after the wedding night. And the divorce would take place before he left the bedroom. He agreed to all this.

They all waited the required three months [to ensure the woman is not pregnant to the previous husband] and then it was time for the secret temporary marriage.

All expenses for the deal were paid by the first husband, he even organised the guest house room for the newlywed couple.

The wedding dinner, also paid for by him, was held at Symphony restaurant, and at midnight the three of them went to the guest house. The ex-husband waited on a chair outside the room.

Next morning the new husband came out looking very relaxed with a cigarette in his mouth. But the ex-husband was running out of patience; he jumped up and down and ordered him to divorce the woman straight away.

The new husband replied calmly that he would divorce the woman only after he'd had sex with her. So far, he said, the marriage hadn't been consummated.

The woman heard this and shouted out, 'That's a lie! He's just making excuses so he doesn't have to divorce me!'

The woman and her ex-husband tried to solve their new problem. They accused the new husband of wife-beating, and the matter was taken to court. There, the woman constantly demanded a divorce, but the new husband refused.

The magistrate realised something strange was going on and ordered the police to conduct an investigation into the whole thing.

Everything was revealed, and all three admitted they had planned a temporary marriage. The new husband acknowledged that after spending the night with his new wife he realised what a 'perfect woman' she was, and he could not bring himself to divorce her.

The case was sent to the court and they were found guilty.

The new husband was sentenced to exile, the woman placed under house arrest, and the ex-husband fined.

When all the evidence came out before the magistrate the ex-husband was so incensed that he condemned the woman in the court itself, and said he would never marry her again.

After serving her sentence the woman went to the island where her new husband was exiled and married him properly.

They are now living together happily, enjoying their new life.

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