White sheets

I recently found out something fascinating about Fijian culture (and Tongan culture as well).  A Tongan friend of mine here told me that the day after her wedding she had to hand over the sheets of the wedding night bed to her new husband's parents (her in-laws).    If there was blood on the sheets this was proof that she was "pure" prior to marriage so the in-laws then presented a gift to her dad as a congratulations for keeping his daughter virginal.  This apparently happens quite regularly in Fijian villages all over Fiji.  One of my friends said that her housekeeper had to hang the wedding night sheets outside for the whole village to see!  I asked another Fijian friend about this and she said that often you find cut pigs after a wedding so the bride can use that blood, but that everyone can tell if the blood is from a pig, as it is a different shade of red.  Wow.  

I understand culturally why this happens and why the dad gets congratulated...but, if this ritual really has to occur and the bride was a virgin until her wedding night...shouldn't she get the acknowledgement?!  She did all of the hard work here!   Anyway....I know that's not how it works here....