SINGAPORE: A 36-year-old woman was jailed for 12 weeks on Friday (Dec 19) after pleading guilty to bigamy, which is illegal in Singapore.
Vietnamese national Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy also lied to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority that she did not have children. This charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.
In 2008, when Nguyen was 19, she married a 54-year-old Singaporean man who was 35 years her senior. Their marriage was registered in Singapore.
Sometime around 2012, Nguyen returned to Vietnam for medical treatment.
While there, she met and started a romantic relationship with a Vietnamese man three years older than her.
Nguyen largely stayed in Vietnam during this time.
She and the Vietnamese man knew that they would not be able to register a marriage in Singapore as Nguyen had a husband there.
But as Nguyen was already pregnant with the man's child, they went ahead and registered their marriage in Vietnam on Jul 28, 2015.
After that, Nguyen continued to stay in Vietnam and would only come to Singapore to renew her long-term visit pass application.
In 2016, she came to Singapore to initiate a divorce with the Singaporean man. Their marriage was dissolved on Nov 3, 2017.
Her second marriage was dissolved in Vietnam on Mar 9, 2018.
Court documents did not contain details on how the bigamous marriage was discovered by authorities.
The prosecution sought three months' jail for Nguyen.
Nguyen, who did not have a lawyer, cried as she spoke to the court through an interpreter.
She said she was now a single mother of a 10-year-old boy who needed her around to care for him.
She also said her family faced difficulties as her father suffers from partial paralysis and her mother is elderly.
"I'm the pillar of strength in the family, (to) take care of my family financially and emotionally," she said.
"So I hope for leniency not only to take care of my son but to take care of my parents as well."
The judge said he would give Nguyen a slightly lighter sentence than what the prosecution had asked for.
Bigamy carries a punishment of up to seven years in jail and a fine.
Continue reading...
Vietnamese national Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy also lied to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority that she did not have children. This charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.
In 2008, when Nguyen was 19, she married a 54-year-old Singaporean man who was 35 years her senior. Their marriage was registered in Singapore.
Sometime around 2012, Nguyen returned to Vietnam for medical treatment.
While there, she met and started a romantic relationship with a Vietnamese man three years older than her.
Nguyen largely stayed in Vietnam during this time.
She and the Vietnamese man knew that they would not be able to register a marriage in Singapore as Nguyen had a husband there.
But as Nguyen was already pregnant with the man's child, they went ahead and registered their marriage in Vietnam on Jul 28, 2015.
After that, Nguyen continued to stay in Vietnam and would only come to Singapore to renew her long-term visit pass application.
In 2016, she came to Singapore to initiate a divorce with the Singaporean man. Their marriage was dissolved on Nov 3, 2017.
Her second marriage was dissolved in Vietnam on Mar 9, 2018.
Court documents did not contain details on how the bigamous marriage was discovered by authorities.
The prosecution sought three months' jail for Nguyen.
Nguyen, who did not have a lawyer, cried as she spoke to the court through an interpreter.
She said she was now a single mother of a 10-year-old boy who needed her around to care for him.
She also said her family faced difficulties as her father suffers from partial paralysis and her mother is elderly.
"I'm the pillar of strength in the family, (to) take care of my family financially and emotionally," she said.
"So I hope for leniency not only to take care of my son but to take care of my parents as well."
The judge said he would give Nguyen a slightly lighter sentence than what the prosecution had asked for.
Bigamy carries a punishment of up to seven years in jail and a fine.
Continue reading...