Polygamy, where a person can have more than one spouse, is illegal in the UK, carrying up to seven years of prison time, if a person is nabbed. Yet, a website dedicated to help Muslim men find a ‘second wife’ has more than 100,000 users in UK.
Polygamy, as such, is only recognised in countries where they are legal.
Interestingly, there is no law to stop unregistered religious ceremonies from taking place.
Azad Chaiwala, from Sunderland, who established the website SecondWife.com, said he was responding to a need.
However, campaigners recently lambasted the site for encouraging women into abusive relationships that deny them rights given by the law of the land in legally recognised marriages.
According to them, polygamy practices opens women, often younger than their husbands, up to loneliness, physical abuse and even trafficking.
Speaking to The Daily Mail, Yasmin Rehman, of the Centre for Secular Space, called the website ‘deeply dangerous’ and called on politicians to take action.
While there are no official figures, it is estimated that there may be as many as 20,000 polygamous marriages in the British Muslim community.
