Bigamist Heshan Handed 6-Month Jail Term and Rs. 100,000 Fine

 Horana Chief Magistrate Chandana Kalansooriya has sentenced a person to six months in prison for committing bigamy by marrying another woman without annulling his legal marriage.

In addition to the prison sentence, the Magistrate ordered the defendant to pay a compensation of one hundred thousand rupees to the wife of the first marriage, further stating in the order that if he fails to pay the compensation, an additional six-month prison sentence will be imposed.

The person sentenced was Heshan Madusanka, a resident of Halwatura, Bulathsinhala. It was revealed in court that he had married a woman from the Ingiriya area and lived with her for about four years, and they have a two-and-a-half-year-old child from that marriage.

While his first marriage was legally valid, he had married another woman and was living with her. It was also revealed during the trial that he had a six-month suspended prison sentence previously handed down by the Colombo High Court for a charge of raping a minor.

Following a complaint made to the police by the wife of the first marriage, the suspect was arrested and produced before the court. Attorney Sadani Dissanayake represented the aggrieved party, and Attorney Isara Rodrigo represented the defendant before the court.