Italian judge backs phone wedding

By Mark Duff
BBC News, Milan

An Italian judge has backed the right of a young Pakistani couple to get married over the phone.

The Italian embassy in Pakistan had barred the groom from bringing his bride to Italy because of the manner of the couple's betrothal.

In Milan, the man told a court that he feared losing his job in Italy if he had flown to Pakistan to get married.

Instead, he got married over the phone and had an official Pakistani marriage certificate to prove it.

He even showed the court a video of relatives celebrating the wedding - without the happy couple.

The groom is legally resident in Italy and had won the approval of the local police chief for his plans to marry over the phone and then bring his bride to his new hometown in northern Italy.

A judge in Milan ruled that the Italian diplomats in Pakistan had acted illegally.

All that mattered, the judge said, was that a telephone wedding was recognised by law in the two spouses' home country.