• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • Essay
    • Leaders
    • Festival
    • Speech
    • General Knowledge
    • Country
    • Events
    • History
  • CONTACT US
  • ISEO TOOL
  • HTML Generator

Study Today

Largest Compilation of Structured Essays

  • Essay⯆
    • Freedom Fighters
    • Leaders
    • Events
    • Festival
  • Scholarship 2020 ⯆
    • Class 1
    • Class 2
    • Class 3
    • Class 4
    • Class 5
    • Class 6
    • Class 7
    • Class 8
    • Class 9
    • Class 10
    • Class 11
    • Class 12
  • Speech
  • History
  • General Knowledge
  • Things to Know⯆
    • Holidays in India 2020
    • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • News Today

Short Paragraph on Bigamy in India (915 Words)

January 15, 2018 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Bigamy is the offense of marrying someone when that person already has a living spouse with whom no divorce has occurred yet. Marrying twice or bigamy is considered as a criminal offense in India. Bigamy is an offense which is quite common in India and even though it is quite immoral but we cannot deny the fact.

The punishment of bigamy is imprisonment in India. Many of the people who commit bigamy ignore this fact and try to suppress their present spouse from going to the police or any other authority figure.

Bigamy is going on in India for centuries and because of this reason people thinks it’s OK to commit bigamy and that they can get away from the law after committing this non-cognizable offense.

The person who commits bigamy has no respect for their spouses and their second spouses cannot guarantee that they won’t do the same with them also.

Table of Contents

  • History of bigamy in India 
  • Bigamy as per Indian law 
    • Bigamy in case of Muslims
    • Conclusion

History of bigamy in India 

Having more than one spouse at the same time is considered as crime in the last few decades but before that it was not. In fact the kings almost always had more than one wives at the same time like Samrat Ashoka who had more than one wife at the same time.

History proves that there are many other kings who married and had more than one wife at the same time. So, we can safely say that marrying again while the other spouse is still alive and not separated from the person legally is going on in India since ancient times and is still going on.

man with two wives

Image Credit: Source

In the recent decades bigamy is considered as a crime and can cause the person committed the crime imprisonment but previously as time is a witness of the history, can say that it wasn’t used to be considered as crime before.

In fact before even the commoners or the people who did not hold any title before their name, can marry more than one people even though their spouse is alive and they are not separated.

However, the custom of having more than one spouses were limited to the men of the society as women that time did not have that much freedom.

But in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, it is mentioned that Draupadi had five husbands at the same time. So there is no specific time when having more than one spouse at the same time started but we do know that it is still going on in India.

Bigamy as per Indian law 

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, said that neither party should have a spouse living at the time of the marriage. In this act it was mentioned that spouses can seek divorce if the other is found to have committed bigamy. In the Hindu Marriage Act, 1956, it is mentioned that the second marriage is void in the eyes of law.

Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860, states that “Marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife: Whoever having a husband or wife living, marries in any case in which such marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the life of such husband or wife shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine”.

Bigamy in case of Muslims

Muslim marriage law is different compared to the other religions marriage law. Muslims personal laws permit that a man can marry not one or two times but four times. The Quranic verse on bigamy states that – you may take one, two, three or four wives, provided that you do justice between them and which you cannot do, so take just one wife.

However, the first wife should give permission to her husband and only then the husband can marry another woman. Bigamy under Muslim law is an exception to the general rule of monogamous marriage.

In India same rule applies. However, at present, there are many Muslim men who are not interested in having more than one wife and because of that the percentage of having more than one wife in Muslims has decreased quite a lot.

Conclusion

A person who commits bigamy or marry again when their spouse are alive and still married to him or her, is considered as a criminal and can put the person behind bars for maximum 7 years. Bigamy is greatly frowned upon in Indian society.

However, in ancient times having two spouses wasn’t a criminal offense and the history is the proof of that as many kings had more than one wife at the same time. In the last few decades’ society started to consider bigamy as a crime.

There is an exception to this rule. Muslims have their own law which states that a man can have maximum four wives at the same time. This is stated in the Quran. However, the man needs the permission of their first wife before marrying another.

So, bigamy committed by a Muslim is not punishable by law. On the other hand the present generation of Muslim men stopped marrying again recently.

Bigamy is considered as a crime not only in India but also in almost all the countries and each of them have different kind of punishment against the person who did the crime which varies from different number of years that they have to spend in prison to different amount of fine given by them.

Filed Under: Essay

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search for Essay

Get Benefits in Click

Best Scholarship for Students

Scholarship 2020
UP Scholarship
PFMS Scholarship
Floridas John Mckay Scholarship
Swami Vivekananda Scholarship
NSP Scholarship
Ts Epass Scholarship
Prerana Scholarship
Pre Matric Scholarship
Maulana Azad Scholarship
Ashirwad Scholarship
WBMDFC Scholarship
SSP Scholarship
Inspire Scholarship
Karnataka Minority Scholarship
Vidhyasaarathi Scholarship
Minority Scholarship
Muslim Minority Scholarship
West Bengal Minority Scholarship
Post Matric Scholarship
Epass Karnataka Scholarship
Jio Scholarship
LIC Scholarship
Canara Bank Scholarship
Santoor Scholarship
APJ Abdul Kalam cholarship
Fair and Lovely Scholarship
Medhavi Scholarship
Colgate Scholarship
Sitaram Jindal Scholarship
Oasis Scholarship
MP Scholarship

Advertisement

Students Big Search Today

1.Speech about Family

2.Women Safety Essay

3.Autobiography of a Pen

4.About Haritha Haram

5.Mahatma Gandhi Essay

6.Clayton Rule

7.My Favourite Cartoon

8.Clayton Rule

9.Importance of Trees Essay

10.Directive Principles of State Policy

11.My Favourite Teacher

12.Speech About Family

13.My Father Essay

14.Honesty is the Best Policy Essay

15.my favourite book

Footer

Top Trending Essays in April 2020

  1. Summer Season
  2. My favourite teacher
  3. World heritage day quotes
  4. my family speech
  5. importance of trees essay
  6. autobiography of a pen
  7. honesty is the best policy essay
  8. essay on building a great india
  9. my favourite book essay
  10. essay on caa
  11. my favourite player
  12. autobiography of a river
  13. farewell speech for class 10 by class 9
  14. essay my favourite teacher 200 words
  15. internet influence on kids essay
  16. my favourite cartoon character

Essay for Students

  • Essay for Class 1 to 5 Students
  • Essays for Class 6 Students
  • Essays for Class 7 Students
  • Essays for Class 8 Students
  • Essays for Class 9 Students

Scholarships for Students

  1. Class 1 Students Scholarship
  2. Class 2 Students Scholarship
  3. Class 3 Students Scholarship
  4. Class 4 Students Scholarship
  5. Class 5 students Scholarship
  6. Class 6 Students Scholarship
  7. Class 7 students Scholarship
  8. Class 8 Students Scholarship
  9. Class 9 Students Scholarship
  10. Class 10 Students Scholarship
  11. Class 11 Students Scholarship
  12. Class 12 Students Scholarship
  13. Class 11 Students Scholarship
  14. Class 12 Students Scholarship

Resources

  • About Study Today
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

STAY CONNECTED

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

All Rights Reserved Copyrights @ 2020 StudyToday.net