Maya eventually separated from her husband and took their children with her. The husband is currently living with his second wife. He did not face any legal action for marrying another woman while he was legally married to Maya.    

Pushpa Sapkota went through the same situation as Maya’s. After her husband married another woman, Pushpa, too, filed a complaint at the police and later withdrew the case.

She was also coerced by her husband and the in-laws into settling the matter at home. No charge was pressed against her husband and he walked free.

Although the country’s law forbids polygamy, the practice of men taking another wife still continues and a very few of them actually face legal action. The reason for that, women rights activists say, is most of the cases regarding bigamy never reach the police. The bigamy victims of bigamy are forced to settle the case at home or local level.  

Usha Rawal of Rupandehi District Women Development Office said in many cases the victims themselves are reluctant to take legal recourse lest they should be judged by the society, or worse their own relatives.    

“If a husband brings another wife to the house and the first wife decides to remain in the same house then she would not want to strain her relations with her in-laws by filing a police case against her man,” Rawal said.   

There are various organisations that provide free legal service to bigamy victims, but women rarely seek out their help. Records at the Women’s Rehabilitation Center show 12 cases concerning bigamy have been reported this year so far and all of them were settled at the local level. Eight cases were reported last year.  

  Bishnu Prasad Bhusal of District Legal Aid Committee said bigamy cases have also failed to reach the concerned authorities because of lengthy legal process and the punishment that is rather mild.