Indian arrested over 'six wives'

Tushar Waghmare

Police in the Indian city of Mumbai say they have arrested a man for forgery and polygamy after he married at least six women over the past two years.

Tushar Waghmare, an engineer with Air India, allegedly kept all his wives in the dark about their counterparts.

He was arrested after his sixth wife went to the police when she discovered he was married to someone else.

Mr Waghmare is being kept in custody until 29 August. He says he married three times and never deceived anyone.

'Surprising'
Police said Mr Waghmare had told his wives he was divorced and had shown them a fake legal document.

"It is surprising that none of his previous wives did a background check on his antecedents," Mumbai (Bombay) police officer RM Vatkar told the BBC.

He would tell them he was travelling and then go on to another wife's home, Mr Vatkar said. Police say that some of his wives were well-educated and had jobs to support themselves.

But his latest wife became suspicious about his frequent travels and, after investigating his whereabouts, discovered he had another wife.

When she lodged a complaint with the police, details about his other marriages emerged.

Some newspaper reports say Mr Waghmare has married 14 women since 2006. But police told the BBC that they were only aware of six wives.

Mr Waghmare complained about different treatment for Hindus and Muslims.

"Muslims are allowed to marry a lot of times while Hindus aren't allowed to do so," he told Reuters television outside a Mumbai police station.

"Why do we have such a law present here?

"I didn't force them to have sex with me nor did I ever dupe them. I have married only thrice till now."