Arrests after wedding pair abused in Maldives

TWO men were arrested yesterday after two Swiss tourists who chose to renew their marriage vows in the Maldives were instead mocked by the officiator, who chanted abuse and curses in the local language at the unsuspecting couple.

The ceremony, posted on YouTube with English subtitles translating the abuse, has embarrassed the Maldives, and President Mohammed Nasheed condemned it as "absolutely disgraceful". Police arrested the celebrant and a helper - an apparent damage-control bid for the country whose economy is driven by tourism.

Police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam said the two men under arrest were hotel employees.

The government identified the couple as Swiss nationals but did not name them.

The video shows the woman in a white dress and the man wearing a white shirt and khaki trousers, standing with their palms facing upward around a table with two rings in coconut shells. Two witnesses and the celebrant are also present, all of them in a palm-leaf enclosure.

The officiator begins chanting in the Dhivehi language that "under penal code clause seven, forbidden fornication is now legal" and goes on to insult the couple, including calling them "swine." The whole time he maintains a prayer-like, chanting tone, bowing his head and gently rocking forward and back.

"Most of the children you get will have spots on their skin. Because of these spots your children will be considered illegitimate children," he says.

Maldives foreign minister Ahmed Shaheed apologised to the couple and said diplomats have been asked to meet them.

"The Maldives is grateful that the couple in question chose to renew their vows in one of our resorts.

"Because of the disrespectful and unacceptable actions of a few individuals, we have let them down," Mr Shaheed said in his statement.

The ministry will write to the Swiss government to express its regret as well, he added.