Married woman who secretly wed another man and had child in Vietnam gets jail

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.