Polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
is legal in
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
regarding the consent of future wives. There is no legal recognition granted to polygamous spouses under civil
law of Bhutan or customary law. Women in Bhutan may by custom be married to several husbands, however they are allowed only one legal husband. The legal status of married couples among
polygamous
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
and
polyandrous households impacts the division of property upon divorce and survivorship, as well as general admissibility of the marital relationship in courts.
Extent
Both polygamy and
polyandry
Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives" ...
are dying out in Bhutan. Polyandry is only present in certain areas, like Laya, but even there it is reportedly becoming an exception. In general the husbands of one wife are brothers. Polyandry is also known among the Brokpa people of Merak and Sakten in eastern Trashigang.
A well-known example of a person in a polygamous marriage in Bhutan is the 4th King
Jigme Singye Wangchuck
Jigme Singye Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་སེང་གེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 11 November 1955) is a member of the House of Wangchuck who was the king of Bhutan (Druk Gyalpo) from 1972 until his abdicati ...
, who is married to four sisters.
References
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
Bhutanese culture
Polygamy in Asia
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