Picture the scene: a young bride is alone with her new husband on their wedding night. They make love. But then comes a disturbing test of their union. He examines the bedsheets for drops of blood to prove she had preserved her sexual purity for him. As part of this traditional process, the sheet is placed on a cushion and put outside the bedroom door where it can be examined by the couple’s waiting families. Once they are satisfied with the proof of blood – showing that the bride’s hymen broke on her wedding night and that she was a virgin bride – this ‘ceremony’ is finished. The family duly disbands and the young woman’s torment of trepidation is over.