\nA Vietnamese woman was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail in Singapore on Dec. 19 after admitting to bigamy, stemming from a years-long double marriage across two countries.\t<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy, 36, pleaded guilty to secretly marrying another man in Vietnam and having a child while still legally married to a Singaporean husband, CNA <\/em>reported. Bigamy is a criminal offense in Singapore.<\/p>\nCourt documents showed that Thuy married a Singaporean man in 2008, when she was 19 and he was 54. The marriage was registered in Singapore, Malay Mail<\/em> reported.<\/p>\nAround 2012, Thuy returned to Vietnam for medical treatment, where she entered a relationship with a Vietnamese man. Despite knowing she was still legally married in Singapore, the couple registered their marriage in Vietnam in July 2015 after she became pregnant.<\/p>\n
During this period, Thuy largely lived in Vietnam and returned to Singapore only to renew her long-term visit pass. She also falsely declared to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority that she had no children, a charge that was taken into consideration during sentencing.<\/p>\n
Thuy later initiated divorce proceedings in Singapore in 2016, with the marriage officially dissolved in November 2017. Her second marriage in Vietnam ended in March 2018.<\/p>\n
Court documents had no details on how authorities uncovered the bigamous marriage.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors sought a three-month jail term, but the judge imposed a slightly lighter sentence after hearing mitigation. Speaking through an interpreter, Thuy broke down in court, saying she is now a single mother raising a 10-year-old boy and supporting elderly parents, including a father with partial paralysis.<\/p>\n
Under Singapore law, bigamy carries a maximum penalty of seven years\u2019 imprisonment and a fine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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