Infidelity earns husband six months in jail
( 2001-06-27 16:34 ) (7 )

Chen Yue, a 25-year-old computer technician, has become the first person in China to be sentenced to jail for violating a new law designed to stamp out the keeping of concubines, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

Chen was found guilty of having a live-in girlfriend only months after marrying another woman, the paper said.

A marriage law enacted in April made it illegal for spouses to keep a household with a second partner.

The keeping of concubines, which was common in traditional Chinese society, is frowned upon by the country's communist authorities as a vestige of feudalism.

But the practice has enjoyed a renaissance as a result of the economic reforms launched in the 1980's which have simultaneously created a new class of wealthy businessmen and loosened the state's hold on society.

The case heard in the Shanghai Changning District Court was brought by Chen's wife, 26-year-old Wei Yiqing, who also works in the computer field.

Wei found out about her husband's double life after a colleague followed Chen to his second home, and she is now seeking a divorce and compensation, the paper reported.

Chen married Wei in March 2000. He went astray in December after meeting Shao Rong, a 32-year-old woman working in a karaoke parlour and set up house with her in January while still maintaining his marriage to Wei.

The court ruled that both Chen and Shao had violated the monogamy provisions of the new Marriage Law. But as Shao admitted her guilt to the court she was not sentenced to a jail term, the paper said.