Married woman in S'pore, 36, secretly married another man in Vietnam & had a child, gets 12 weeks' jail

A Vietnamese national in Singapore, 36-year-old Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy, pleaded guilty to bigamy and was sentenced to 12 weeks' jail on Dec. 19.

According to CNA, a charge of providing false information to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), in which she declared that she did not have any children, was also taken into consideration during sentencing.

Married to a Singaporean man 35 years her senior

Court documents seen by Mothership revealed that in August 2008, Nguyen, who was 19 at the time, married a 54-year-old Singaporean man.

Their marriage was registered in Singapore.

Around 2012, Nguyen returned to Vietnam to receive medical treatment.

While she was there, she became acquainted with a Vietnamese man, who was three years older than her.

The two later entered a romantic relationship with each other.

Nguyen largely stayed in Vietnam during this period.

Married the Vietnamese man in 2015

The pair later agreed to marry each other.

However, as Nguyen was still legally married to the Singaporean man, they realised that they would not be able to register their marriage in Singapore.

They proceeded to register their marriage in Vietnam in July 2015, as Nguyen was already pregnant with the man's child.

Nguyen continued to live in Vietnam thereafter, and would only travel to Singapore to renew her Long-Term Visit Pass application.

In 2016, she returned to Singapore to initiate divorce proceedings with the Singaporean man.

Their marriage was dissolved on Nov. 3, 2017.

Her second marriage was dissolved in Vietnam on Mar. 9, 2018.

It was not disclosed how authorities uncovered the bigamous marriage.

Plea for leniency

The prosecution sought a sentence of three months' jail for Nguyen.

According to CNA, Nguyen broke down in court.

Speaking through an interpreter, she said she is now a single mother and the sole caregiver of her 10-year-old son.

She also told the court that her father suffers from partial paralysis and her mother is elderly, and thus hoped for leniency so she could care for both her son and parents.

"I'm the pillar of strength in the family, (to) take care of my family financially and emotionally," she said.

The judge said he would impose a slightly lighter sentence than what the prosecution had sought.

If convicted of bigamy, one could face a maximum of seven years' jail and a fine.

Top photo via Canva