A device that allows women to feign virginity on their wedding night has caused uproar among conservative academics in Egypt.
Scholar Abdul Mouti Bayoumi has said those found importing the device should face charges of spreading vice in society, a crime punishable by death according to Sharia law.
The contraption, which releases a blood-like substance when triggered, has been used by women who want their husbands to believe they are virgins on their wedding night.
Pre-marital sex carries a heavy stigma in many conservative Arab societies.
Produced in China and available to buy in Syria for around $15, the device is much cheaper than hymen-repair surgery which is secretly performed in some Middle Eastern clinics.
Professor Bayoumi from the prestigious al-Azhar University told the BBC the device undermined the moral deterrent of fornication.
Members of the Egyptian parliament have also called for the contraption to be banned.
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