Man, 61, with wife in S'pore, marries domestic helper in Batam, gets 2 months' jail for bigamy

Some 24 years after getting married, a Singaporean man started dating an Indonesian domestic helper.

Eight years later, the pair got married in Batam, despite the man not dissolving his first marriage.

Police were informed after the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) caught wind of the bigamy, and the man and helper were both later arrested, according to CNA.

Low Kok Peng, 61, was sentenced to two months in jail on Apr. 24 after pleading guilty to one charge of bigamy.

The 50-year-old Indonesian helper, named Komariah, was also supposed to plead guilty the same day, but it did not go through after she claimed she did not know Low was married until the investigations.

Married with 1 kid

Low had married his wife, a Singaporean woman now aged 55, in 1992.

The two share a daughter, and their marriage is still valid to this day.

In 2016, Low started dating Komariah after being introduced by a friend.

At the time, she was working in Singapore as a domestic helper and was on a work permit.

In 2024, they went to Batam, Indonesia, and entered into a Muslim marriage solemnised by a religious leader.

This was despite the fact that Low's first marriage had not been dissolved.

Komariah allegedly did not get permission from the controller of work passes to marry Low, which is a breach of the conditions of her work pass.

They later returned to Singapore, and Low continued living with his first wife, who did not know about the second marriage.

Bigamy

The prosecution had sought two to three months' jail, saying bigamy often leads to serious consequences, even if this did not happen in this case, CNA reported.

They said Low had practised "protracted deception" on his first wife.

The offence was also premeditated to avoid censure in Singapore, they noted.

Low was unrepresented and reportedly said nothing in mitigation.

In response to Komariah’s claim that she was unaware Low was married at the time, the prosecution maintains that she knew this at all material times.

Her case was fixed for a pre-trial conference on May 4.

She faces one charge for bigamy and another for contravening a condition of the work pass by marrying Low without approval from the controller of work passes.

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