German court refuses divorce

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MUNICH, Germany, July 17 (UPI) -- A Munich court is denying a divorce for a woman tricked into marriage, saying because she was never legally married, she cannot be legally divorced.

Anna K., 31, has been fighting for a divorce from Kulwinder S. since 2008, The Local reported.

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."

She received a shocking letter weeks later -- 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.