A member of the Pyay District’s electoral commission is being sued by his wife for breaching Section 13 of the country’s Monogamy Law.
An officer from the Pyay District Police Force confirmed to 7Day that the woman had filed charges against her 60-year-old husband after accusing him of having an affair with his 20-something stepdaughter, her biological daughter from her first marriage. The three were sharing a house in Nwar Ma Yan village, located in Pyay District’s Shwedaung Township.
“The woman who opened the case had legally divorced her first husband and brought the daughter that she had with her first spouse [to her new house]. She then legally married the electoral officer and the three of them have been living together here for approximately seven years,” a Nwar Ma Yan villager told 7Day.
The husband is currently in custody but no charges have been filed against the daughter.
Enacted in August 2015, the Monogamy Law was one of four race and religion laws backed by Ma Ba Tha. Under its terms, those who remarry can face up to 10 years in prison. Those found guilty of breaching the law’s Section 13 by committing adultery or living with someone other than their spouse face a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.
