Did an Algerian man sue his new bride for not looking pretty without make-up?

Question

There is a news-story that has been going around:

• The Mary Sue
• Sunrise
• WGN TV

This Emirates 24/7 article is quoted as a source:

An Algerian groom took his bride to court just a day after their marriage, accusing her of not looking as pretty as before the wedding and of cheating him with much make-up.

The groom, who is seeking $20,000 damages, told court in the capital Algiers that he was shocked when he got up in the next morning and found that his wife looked so different, that he could not recognise her.

Newspapers in the North African Arab country said the groom swore in court that he even mistook his wife for a “thief who came to steal his apartment".

The man is unnamed. The date is unclear. The court isn't named. This has all the hallmarks of an urban legend.

Is it true?

Answer 1

In 30 May 2015, a website (publishing in French) called El Manchar, published an article called:

Title: Un nouveau marié dépose une plainte contre sa femme pour faux et usage de faux

Translation: A newly married husband files a complaint against his wife for forgery

The small article says that a man was so shocked after seeing his wife without makeup for the first time that he decided to sue her for fraud and psychological suffering.

Apparently, the staff of Emirates 24/7 have seen the article posted by El Manchar, and decided to adopt it in English and make a piece of news; those are the indicators:

• Emirate 24/7 said that the husband is seeking $20,000 of damages. EL Manchar also said the husband is also seeking $20,000 of damages ⁽¹⁾

• Emirate 24/7 said that the husband mistook the wife for a "thief who came to steal his apartment". And so El Manchar said that too:

Original: Épouvanté, le mari aurait d’abord cru qu’un cambrioleur s’était introduit par effraction au domicile conjugal avant de se rendre compte que l’intrus n’était autre que sa femme démaquillée.

Translation: Terrified, the husband would have initially thought a burglar had entered breaking the marital home before realizing that the intruder was none other than his wife cleansed.

Now, as you look further into El Manchar, you will find this in the about section:

About: El-Manchar est un site d’informations fausses et complètement saugrenues. Il a été créé dans le seul but d’explorer le champ de l’absurde. Aussi, les articles qui y sont publiés, ne renvoient à aucune occurrence du réel mais juste à des occurrences du possible. La devise d’El-Manchar est « avec des scies, on refait le monde »

Translation: El-Manchar is a site consisting of completely false and absurd information. It was created for the sole purpose of exploring the field of absrud. Also, the articles published therein, does not refer to any actual single occurrence but just occurrences which could be possible. The motto of El Manchar is "with saws, we change the world"

Going through their twitter account, you will find out a tweet where they express pride and satisfaction for their viral but fake story that have circulated and made online headlines on Yahoo, DailyMail, Huffington Post, EliteDaily, Metro and many more...

You will also find Facebook images where they mock news articles for falling for their fake news.

^{(1) El Manchar said that the guy is seeking "20 millions de centimes" of damage. It is referring to centimes of dirham. 20 million of centimes of MAD is equal to 200,000 MAD (Morrocan Dirham). 200,000.00 MAD = 20,307.06 USD}