SINGAPORE, Dec 20 — A 36 year old Vietnamese woman was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail yesterday after admitting to bigamy, which is a criminal offence in Singapore.
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy also misled the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority by declaring she had no children, a charge that was taken into account during sentencing, according to a report by CNA.
She married a 54 year old Singaporean man in 2008 when she was 19, and later returned to Vietnam around 2012 for medical treatment.
While in Vietnam, she began a relationship with a man three years older than her and registered a marriage with him on July 28, 2015, despite knowing she was still legally married in Singapore.
Nguyen gave birth to a child with her second husband and remained in Vietnam, returning to Singapore only to renew her long term visit pass.
She filed for divorce from her Singaporean husband in 2016, and the marriage was dissolved on November 3, 2017.
Her second marriage in Vietnam ended on March 9, 2018.
Court documents did not explain how authorities discovered the bigamous marriage.
The prosecution requested a three month sentence, but the judge imposed a slightly lighter term of 12 weeks.
She stated that she is raising her 10 year old son alone and must be present to care for him.
Nguyen told the court through an interpreter, “I’m the pillar of strength in the family, (to) take care of my family financially and emotionally. So I hope for leniency not only to take care of my son but to take care of my parents as well.”
Bigamy in Singapore carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a fine.
