Dubai - A 20-year-old Yemeni bride has been stung to death by a scorpion that a jealous older wife hid in the younger woman's wig, Middle East news agencies reported on Wednesday.

Reports from Taiz, in south Yemen, said the creature was hidden in the hairpiece with the help of a hairdresser.

The bride felt the stings as she was dressed to be taken to her future husband's house, but the coiffeur told her the pain came from hair pins.

Doctors said she died of 24 stings. Far less poison was enough to be fatal.

Muslim men are traditionally allowed up to four wives. - Sapa-DPA