A woman from Port Elizabeth is taking legal steps to become single again after discovering she has been married for 16 years to a man she has never met.

The 41-year-old, who prefers to remain anonymous, told Rapport that she discovered she is married to a Chinese man named Chao Chen while applying for a new ID in 2016.

She had lost her ID when she moved from Cape Town to PE, and also applied for a social grant when she applied for her new ID. It was then that she was informed that she was married in community of property with Chen.

According to Home Affairs, fraudulent marriages are quite common, and many are reported every year. This fraudulent marriage occurs when someone uses another’s ID to register a marriage between them.

The woman has since approached the Pretoria High Court and its working with the Wits Law Clinic to invalidate the fraudulent marriage. The first step is to make Chen aware of the legal proceedings, however, he cannot be found.

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