'I never knew my wife had another husband'

isaac dachen

December 16, 2015 8:19 AM

Bigamy is a very serious crime but how would you cope if you realise your wife is still legally married to another man?

Bigamy can take one to jail

"Dear Pulse,

My name is and I have a problem that I hope your readers would help me out. to for five years and we have two young kids but I must tell you that I never knew I was married to the greatest liar of all times.

I met her in the United States of America where I went for my Masters programme and we got married both in the registry and in the church. Two years later, I had to come back to Nigeria to work with an oil company and initially, she did not want to come back with me, claiming that the country was not safe for her and the kids.

I came back alone and for six months, I did all I could to persuade her to come back so that the children would have both parents. When she finally came, it was another tug of war for us to go to their home town in the east to see her parents though we had gone to my hometown in Benue State several times.

But three months ago, I had the shock of my life when I got back home to meet three strange men waiting for me. They claimed to be her in-laws from their home town who came to tell me that Nkechi was already married to their son who is serving a 15 year jail term in South Africa for a drug related offence.

It turned out that Nkechi was married legally to the man and they were living in South Africa but when he was arrested and sentenced to prison, she moved to America where we met and got married.

I was mad at her and asked why she did not tell me about her first marriage but she told me she was in the process of a divorce when we met but then, she never got round to getting the divorce, thereby placing me in a very difficult situation at the moment. By law, she is still married to another man and I know bigamy is a very serious crime that can send me to jail.

The man's family have insisted that according to their culture, she is still their wife and that our two children legally belong to them.

I don't know how to go about this because they have promised me hell if I refuse to hand over my wife and children to them by this Christmas.

What should I do?

Steve,

Abuja."

Dear readers, on Morning Teaser today, we ask: how would you advice Steve on this knotty issue?

isaac dachen