Man fined for taking second wife

KOTA KINABALU: A 46-year-old man was slapped with a RM8,000 fine, in default, 12 months in jail at the Magistrate's Court here yesterday for marrying again during the lifetime of his wife.

Magistrate Stephanie Sherron Abbie passed the sentence on Philip Kenneth Chau after he admitted to a charge under Section 494 of the Penal Code.

The indictment carries a jail term of up to seven years, and also liable to a fine, on conviction.

Philip had committed the offence at the National Registration Department in Penampang at 9am on January 28, 2016.

Based on the facts of the case, the accused's wife lodged a police report on January 17, 2016 that her husband had cheated her by marrying another woman while he was still legally married to her.

She believed that the accused had married another woman at the Penampang State Native Court in 2006 and had two sons from the second marriage.

The complainant, who had a daughter from her marriage with the accused, had lost contact with the accused since he disappeared in 2006.

Then the complainant found out about the accused's second marriage from her daughter who was in contact with the accused through the social media Facebook.

Philip admitted that he had married again and had two sons from his second marriage.