(CNN) -- The Maldives will introduce strict guidelines on conducting wedding ceremonies for tourists after a foreign couple was mocked and abused by staff members at a local resort, the president's office said Friday.
The couple thought they were taking part in a marriage renewal ceremony conducted in the local Dhivehi language. But the officiant used the occasion to insult them and call them names.
The Maldives -- an archipelago of almost 1,200 coral islands south-southeast of India -- is a secular nation of 370,000 Muslims. But it is a favorite of well-heeled Westerners lured by its white sandy beaches.
The incident came to light when a YouTube video of the ceremony surfaced recently.
The nationalities of the couple are not known, but they speak in English in the video.
The woman -- wearing a white dress - and the man bow their heads in prayer in what they think is a wedding renewal.
But the person conducting the ceremony calls them "swines" and "infidels" and says children of such a union will be "illegitimate," according to a translation provided by the local Minivan news website.
At the end of the ceremony, the couple exchange rings and head to the beach to plant a coconut tree in the sand. At several points in the video, the officiant is heard cautioning the videographer to make sure he did not record the profanities.
CNN
