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SINGAPORE: Although he was already married, a man began dating a domestic helper he was introduced to and later got married to her in Batam.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) caught wind of the bigamy and flagged the case to the police, who arrested both the man and the maid.<\/p>\n
Low Kok Peng, a 61-year-old Singaporean man, was sentenced to two months’ jail on Friday (Apr 24). He pleaded guilty to one charge of bigamy under the Women’s Charter.<\/p>\n
His co-accused, 50-year-old Indonesian woman Komariah, was supposed to plead guilty on Friday but it did not go through after she claimed she did not know Low was married until the investigations.<\/p>\n
The court heard that Low married his wife, a Singaporean woman now aged 55, in 1992.<\/p>\n
The marriage remains in force and they have a daughter.<\/p>\n
In 2016, some 24 years into his marriage, Low was introduced to Komariah by a friend.<\/p>\n
At the time, she was working in Singapore as a domestic helper and was on a work permit.<\/p>\n
Low began a romantic relationship with Komariah. In 2024, they went to Batam, Indonesia, and entered into a Muslim marriage solemnised by a religious leader.<\/p>\n
At the time they got married, Low knew that his first wife was still alive and his marriage with her had not been dissolved.<\/p>\n
Komariah allegedly did not get permission from the controller of work passes to marry Low. This was a breach of the conditions of her work pass.<\/p>\n
Low’s first wife did not know about the second marriage, which has not been annulled to this day.<\/p>\n
They returned to Singapore and Low continued living with his first wife.<\/p>\n
A police report was lodged in late January this year after MOM submitted information about a case of suspected bigamy.<\/p>\n
The prosecution sought two to three months’ jail, saying deterrence was the dominant sentencing consideration.<\/p>\n
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim said bigamy often leads to serious consequences, even if this did not happen in this case.<\/p>\n
He said Low had practised “protracted deception” on his first wife. The offence was also premeditated in order to avoid censure in Singapore.<\/p>\n
The length of offending was also fairly long, said Mr Lim.<\/p>\n
Low said nothing in mitigation. He was unrepresented.<\/p>\n
In response to Komariah’s claim that she did not know Low was married at the time, Mr Lim said the prosecution’s position is that she knew at all material times.<\/p>\n
Her case was fixed for a pre-trial conference. On top of a mirroring charge for bigamy, she faces a second charge of flouting her work pass condition by marrying Low without approval.<\/p>\n
The penalties for committing bigamy are a jail term of up to seven years and a fine of up to S$10,000.<\/p>\n
CNA has contacted MOM for more information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n