'My Father Abandoned Us For His Second Wife'

How one woman’s childhood was destroyed by her father’s unfair polygamous marriage.

- Fara Adila

“The oldest of seven siblings, I was 18 and still studying at a local university when my father’s second marriage came to light, after he was involved in an accident with my stepmother. That was when we found out my father had gotten married two years ago and even had another son.

My mother never once suspected my father because she trusted him fully, always believing that he had the best interest of his children at heart. I knew she was heartbroken, but she accepted my father’s decision and tried to embrace his other wife. However, it was the beginning of a tumultuous change in our lives.

My stepmother began demanding for things that superseded what my father could afford and give to my mother. On top of that, she never once respected my mother and looked down upon my family. So blinded was he by his infatuation with her, my father simply went along with it.

A DIVORCE

Shortly after, I accepted an offer to attend a local university near my mother’s hometown. This gave me the opportunity to visit my maternal grandparents often. where I would complain and pour my heart out to my grandmother, who would tell me to be patient.

Meanwhile, I would be my mum’s shoulder to cry on – she’d put on a brave front despite being hurt so deeply by my father. When I was 20 and returned home to celebrate Hari Raya with my mother, my father got into an argument with her. That very night, he divorced her in front of me and my siblings. That was the first Raya we had ever spent without him.