LYON, France, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A newlywed Muslim couple sued the mayor of Lyon, France, because the bride was told to remove her veil at a town hall wedding ceremony, her lawyer said.
The bride, identified only as Nassima A., was asked to remove the veil, which covered only her hair, during the ceremony at Lyon town hall in June, The Local reported.
"Nassima thought it was an order and did not think twice about removing her veil. She thought she had to do it to get married and took it off in front of everybody," Gilles Devers, her lawyer, told the French daily Liberation.
The bride felt humiliated during the ceremony, Devers said.
Fatiha Ben Ahmed, the deputy mayor of Lyon's 9th district, asked the bride to show her hair and told her she looked "very pretty" without a veil.
The woman and her husband are seeking $63,887 in damages in the suit against Lyon Mayor Gerard Collomb.
Collomb said he's prepared to negotiate with the couple and that Ben Ahmed could have been more sensitive.
