Malaysian man fined for marrying two sisters

MALAYSIA: Malaysian Islamic court in Kuala Lumpur has fined a Muslim man who married two sisters, fathering seven children between them, reports said Wednesday.

Omar Tahir, 65, pleaded guilty to marrying Mahaya Singa, 57, while still being married to her sister, Halimah, 64, in the first case of its kind in the capital, reports said.

Under sharia law in Malaysia, Muslim men are allowed to take up to four wives, but cannot be married to two sisters at the same time.

Omar, who works as a driver, told Kuala Lumpur’s sharia high court that he repented for his crime before paying the fine of 4,000 ringgit (1,140 dollars).

“I also plan to seek a divorce from Mahaya as a result of this,” he was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times.

According to reports, Omar married Halimah in 1960 and fathered five children, and then married Mahaya in 1976, with whom he had another two children.

Omar and Mahaya were charged in December after being arrested by Islamic authorities acting on a public tip-off, according to the Star daily.

Kuala Lumpur, Wednesday, AFP