‘There’s no boyfriend, girlfriend status in my culture’: Hamilton man’s bigamy excuse

Ravi Bhushan, 35, in the Hamilton District Court, where he was sentenced on bigamy and family violence charges. Photo / Belinda Feek

WARNING: This story details family violence and may be upsetting.

A man with two wives justified his actions when questioned by police by saying there is no “boyfriend, girlfriend” concept in his Punjabi culture and it wasn’t as if he was living with both women “at the same time”.

Ravi Bhushan was today jailed on the relatively rare charge of bigamy in the Hamilton District Court, along with two charges of strangling and assaulting with intent to injure his new pregnant wife.

The origins of the bigamy charge date back to 2016, when he married a woman in India before coming back to New Zealand with her - despite having already married another woman here in 2014.

Court documents state he first came to New Zealand on a student visa in 2012 and became a citizen in 2015.

Although still legally married to his first wife, he began advertising for a bride in the NZ Tasveer Punjabi newspaper, circulated among the Indian community, and providing his email address as a contact in January 2016.

A woman contacted him that same month and the pair got engaged in New Zealand, before travelling to India in December of that year and getting married in an elaborate ceremony at a Sikh temple that involved wearing traditional clothing.

He never told his new bride that he was already married and remained married to both women until December 1, 2017, when he dissolved the first marriage in the Tauranga Family Court.

He was eventually charged with bigamy on December 30 last year.

When questioned by police, Bhushan said the first marriage was “only a traditional marriage and has no legalities in India”.

The other charges related to two separate incidents involving his second wife in their Hamilton home, the first in July 2021.

There was an argument and he became aggressive and approached the woman from behind, wrapping a belt around her neck until she began to struggle to breathe. She scratched his face in order to get away.

Then on December 14 last year, when the victim was eight weeks pregnant, Bhushan asked her what she had cooked him for dinner. She replied “curry” before asking if he could help make some dough.

He got upset and started calling her names before punching her in the lower back four times.

The woman ran away but he caught her and pushed her against a wall. She screamed, and to make her stop - for fear of alerting neighbours - he put one hand around her throat and another around her mouth and nose, and she again struggled to breathe.

He again let her go once her breathing became shallow before punching her in the shoulder.

She suffered bruising and pain in her back.

When questioned by police, Bhushan said his wife “always screams for no reason”.

‘He wanted to move on with his life’

The case had been previously adjourned to allow discussions with police and the defence after Bhushan denied his assault had caused his partner to have a miscarriage.

Bhushan’s counsel Martin Dillon said that had now been removed from the agreed summary of facts.

He noted his client had been criticised in a pre-sentence report in which he minimised his offending, denied parts of it and failed to express remorse, even though he had apologised for it.

Ravi Bhushan was jailed for 25 months, but will almost be immediately eligible for parole due to his eight months already served in custody. Photo / Belinda Feek

He had also pleaded guilty at an early stage.

As for the bigamy, Bhushan had told him that he had been separated from his first wife, was not living with her, and the relationship was at an end.

“He couldn’t immediately divorce her, but nevertheless wanted to move on with a new life.”

Bhushan explained that there was “no such thing as boyfriend and girlfriend ... in his culture”.

It wasn’t as if he was “living with two wives at the same time”.

He pushed for credit for his client’s previous good character, both in India and New Zealand, and his completion of an anger management course.

Dillon added that Bushan had also “felt his own sense of loss and grief” due to the miscarriage.

Judge Noel Cocurullo told him his offending had a “profound and long-term effect” on the victim.

“She was devastated and continues to be ... by the level of abuse she suffered at your hands.

After taking a starting point of three years and three months’ jail, Judge Cocurullo applied various discounts before jailing Bhushan for 25 months.

As he had been in custody since March, Bhushan would be almost immediately eligible for parole.

Outside court, the victim’s sister said she was still suffering from what she went through.

“She was traumatised and scared of telling the truth. Emotionally and mentally, she is traumatised.”

She also disputed Bhushan’s excuse for the bigamy, saying there were many people in Punjab who were together as a couple but not married.