NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A happily married couple in northern India got the shock of their lives when they learnt they had divorced 10 years ago, the Times of India reported on Tuesday.

Meena Verma, a mother of two children, tried to file a case against her in-laws for violence, only to be told by a court in Haryana state that she had been divorced for a decade.

Her husband Virender told the Times of India his brother, a lawyer, had apparently forged the divorce a decade earlier, when the couple were contemplating making a similar complaint.

“It seems the divorce was doctored to defeat Meena’s possible complaint,” he said.

The couple filed a petition accusing Virender’s brother, Surinder Verma, and four associates, of forgery. Surinder denied the accusation.