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Maldives change wedding regulations after abuse of tourist couple
Renewing your vows in a tropical paradise sounds perfect, doesn't it? But what if you were to discover that the words uttered during your ceremony weren't "to have and to hold," but slurs against your name, your country and your religion? As we originally reported earlier this week, a couple renewing their vows on the island was mocked in the Island's local Dhiveli language.
CNN reports that the Maldive Islands plans to announce new, stricter wedding laws after it was discovered that a couple participating in a vow renewal ceremony was insulted.
According to CNN, who researched the issue after seeing the video on YouTube:
the person conducting the ceremony calls them "swines" and "infidels" and says children of such a union will be "illegitimate," according to a translation provided by the local Minivan news website.
At the end of the ceremony, the couple exchange rings and head to the beach to plant a coconut tree in the sand. At several points in the video, the officiant is heard cautioning the videographer to make sure he did not record the profanities.
The nation's president, Mohamed Nasheed, condemned the incident and the government issued a statement saying that "no stone will be left unturned to ensure that an incident like this never happens again," according to CNN.
Tourist hotels will soon have strict regulations concerning wedding ceremonies.
[Flickr image via nattu]
Filed under: Maldives, Consumer Activism












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mollie Oct 30th 2010 8:54PM
Just as I have always suspected, the maldivian staff at some of the resorts if not all have only contempt for the so called rich rich western people. I love the Maldives and have been a few times but have always been aware that all is not as it seems. Do people really think this is the first time this has happened? I would say anyone who has had their vows renewed on these beautiful Atolls need to be realistic about what actually was said at their own ceremony. we have been saving to return to the Maldives I think this episode now confirms my previous fears about how this mild Muslim community really feely about us.
KeenDo Nov 2nd 2010 4:15AM
For this case, I don't think the resort in this news are one of 5-7star resorts in Maldives.
Recommend, Anantara Maldives Resorts when couples want to setting wedding ceremony in Maldives.
The resort's wedding services:
- Maldivian wedding
- Maldivian white sands beach wedding
- Yatch wedding in Indian ocean
- Underwater wedding
- Western wedding on Maldives beach
info:
http://dhigu-maldives.anantara.com/wedding.aspx
http://veli-maldives.anantara.com/wedding.aspx
http://kihavah-maldives.anantara.com/wedding.aspx