Man caught having affair in S’pore when second wife gave birth at hospital where first wife worked

Man caught having affair in Singapore when visiting second wife at hospital where first wife worked

A man in Singapore was caught cheating by his first wife after he showed up at the hospital where she worked to visit his second wife, who was delivering a child.

On Thursday (21 Aug), the 49-year-old man was sentenced to three months and three weeks’ jail for bigamy.

He also faced another charge for providing a false declaration — about not having another marriage — in a residency application.

Married man marries second wife

Indian national Vaithialingam Muthukumar married his first wife — a 55-year-old Singaporean woman — in India in 2007.

In 2011, the 49-year-old moved to Singapore, where he started working.

At work, Vaithialingam met the woman who would become his second wife — 43-year-old Salmah Bee Abdul Razak.

Salmah was aware that Vaithialingam was already married.

Nonetheless, the pair planned on getting married, with Vaithialingam promising to divorce his first wife after marrying Salmah.

This led to the pair getting a Muslim marriage in Aug 2022, registered by a religious leader in India.

The prosecution argued that this marriage remains in force. Vaithialingam and Salim were also aware that the former’s first wife was alive and that the first marriage was valid.

Second wife delivers baby at first wife’s hospital

In Sep 2023, Razak gave birth to a boy at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KK Hospital). Vaithialingam, the child’s father, proceeded to visit her at the hospital’s delivery suite.

Source: BGStock72 on Canva. For illustration purposes only.

Coincidentally, Vaithialingam’s first wife worked at the same hospital, and she spotted him exiting the suite.

She knew the delivery suite was not open for guest visitation and decided to confront him. Vaithialingam subsequently admitted to the affair.

Man pleaded guilty to bigamy

In June 2024, Vaithialingam submitted a permanent resident application for himself as the spouse of a Singapore citizen.

Vaithialingam’s first wife was the local sponsor of the application. The Indian national also stated in the form that he did not have any other marriage, including customary ones.

Just the next month, Salim reported Vaithialingam’s double marriage to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), which forwarded the case to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

MOM had done so as the Indian national had been staying in Singapore on a long-term visit pass that was sponsored by his first wife.

The permanent residence application was eventually rejected in Oct 2024.

The prosecution argued that the man had deceived both of his wives. They said his first wife discovered his affair by “pure chance” at the hospital, while his second wife was deceived by the promise of divorce from his first wife.

Vaithialingam pleaded guilty to the bigamy charge. He also confessed to lying about his marital status in an application for permanent residence.