A woman in Australia recently had her marriage annulled after she discovered that a wedding ceremony, which she believed to be a prank for her partner's Instagram page, was in fact a legally binding marriage. This unexpected turn of events has raised questions about trust and deception in relationships formed online. The incident unfolded in Sydney, where the woman thought she was part of an elaborate social media stunt orchestrated by her partner, a social media influencer with over 17,000 followers.
The woman met her partner through an online dating platform in September 2023. Their relationship progressed quickly, and within two months, her partner asked her to add him as a dependant in her application for permanent residency in Australia. With intentions veiled as a jest, the woman participated in what she believed to be a fake wedding ceremony. According to her, the partner had assured her that the event was merely a prank for his Instagram account.
"And he pulled me aside, and he told me that he's organising a prank wedding for his social media, to be precise, Instagram, because he wants to boost his content, and wants to start monetising his Instagram page," the woman recounted.
However, unbeknownst to her, a notice of intended marriage had been filed the previous month, which she did not sign. The woman only realized the gravity of the situation when her partner later attempted to leverage their marriage to secure permanent residency in Australia. Her initial concerns were dismissed by friends who viewed it as nothing more than a prank.
The couple's relationship began with them regularly seeing each other in Melbourne and included attending an event together in Sydney just two days after their first meeting. The partner claimed in his deposition that there was mutual agreement regarding the circumstances of the fake wedding. Nevertheless, the woman discovered both the marriage certificate and the notice of intended marriage, leading to her realization of the truth.
She described how he persuaded her to "play along" to "make it look real," believing it was all part of an elaborate prank.
In October 2024, a Melbourne judge annulled the marriage after accepting the woman's testimony that she had been deceived into the union. The judge ruled in her favor, acknowledging that she had been tricked into getting married under false pretenses.
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