Police in the western town of Duelmen said the couple were spotted by pedestrians late Friday morning having intercourse. Pedestrians in the town of 40,000 called police, but the couple initially ignored police orders to stop.

"The naked couple continued their passion-filled activity on the cold asphalt," a police spokesman said. "They finally followed police instructions to stop on the third warning."

The spokesman said the two face a 100-euro ($125) fine each for disturbing the peace.

Rahat Iqbal, a Muslim man living in the US, sent the email to his wife Rubab back home in India.

Rubab is challenging the email divorce and the case has sparked controversy in the Muslim community in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, India.

The couple married in 1998 and lived together in Bareilly for just a month before he left for the US, promising to send for her within 20 days.

But Rubab was kept waiting for six years until she received the email saying 'talaq', Arabic for 'I divorce thee', three times.

Islamic clerics are considering the validity of the divorce. Most say the email would at least have to be authenticated for the divorce to go through.

Prominent cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid told the Hindustan Times that the husband would have to telephone the wife to confirm the email was from him.

Another, Akhtar Raza Khan, ruled that the "divorce should be handwritten and the wife should recognize the handwriting".

However, Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad decreed the email divorce "absolutely illegal", the paper said.

Earlier Stories

Welcome to
(DP) Board    

Check it out!

 Cartoon