SINGAPORE — A 49-year-old Indian national was sentenced to three months and three weeks in jail after his secret second marriage was uncovered when his first wife saw him at a hospital where she worked, according to CNA.

CNA reported that Vaithialingam Muthukumar married his first wife, a Singaporean woman now aged 55, in India in 2007 and joined her in Singapore in 2011.

He later began a relationship with a 43-year-old colleague, Salmah Bee Abdul Razak, who knew he was already married. The pair wed in a Muslim ceremony in Nagore, India, in August 2022 on the promise that he would divorce his first wife.

The deception unravelled on September 14 last year when Salmah gave birth to their son at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

According to the report his first wife, who worked at the hospital, spotted him leaving the delivery suite and confronted him.

Investigations revealed that Vaithialingam had also lied in immigration documents. In June 2024, he applied for permanent residency as the spouse of a Singapore citizen but falsely declared he had no other marriages. His application was rejected in October that year.

According to CNA, Salmah later reported to the Ministry of Manpower that he was still married to another woman, leading to a police probe.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to commit bigamy and another for making a false declaration in his permanent residency application. A third charge over a false statement in a visit pass application was taken into consideration during sentencing.

The court jailed him for three months and three weeks. Bigamy carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail and a fine of up to S$10,000.