Polygamist caught after juggling wives for 20 years

A man in Jiangmen, Guangdong province was married to four wives in the same area who knew nothing about each other for years.

Police arrested 45-year-old man surnamed Chen for polygamy this month when one of his wives, surnamed Wang, contacted authorities after discovering the woman she believed he was having an affair with was his legal spouse, media reported Monday

Authorities explained Chen managed to marry multiple times because his older marriage certificates had not been entered into China's national online database.

Chen married his first wife, also surnamed Chen, in 1992. He then married wives surnamed Wang and Zhang in 1994 and a woman surnamed Liang in 2007.

Wang bore him a girl and a boy while Zhang had a son.

His secret came to light when Wang discovered husband Chen was having what she thought was an affair with Liang in 2013.

At first she chose to forgive her husband for the sake of their children.

However the last straw came when Liang produced a marriage license and told Wang she must divorce their mutual husband.

Polygamy in China is punishable by imprisonment or detention of up to two years.