Village head said to have 4 wives

A former head of a village in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, has been suspended from his post as deputy to a local people's congress after media reports alleging that he has four wives and 10 children, local authorities said.

Villagers claim that Li Junwen, former head of Xizan village and deputy to the people's congress in Xiaodian district in Taiyuan, has four wives and 10 children, most of whom have their hukou, or permanent residency, registered in the village, the Legal Weekly reported on Wednesday.

A woman stands in front of a wall of pictures during an anti-corruption photo exhibition at Hangzhou Peace International Exhibition and Conference Center, Zhejiang province, in October 2011. [Photo by Zhu Yinwei / for China Daily]

The people's congress in Xiaodian district suspended Li from his post in the local Party's congress, the district government's publicity bureau said on Thursday. Li has been released on bail pending trial after being detained by police, the authority said in a statement.

According to the report, Li married a woman in the 1990s, and the couple had four children. In 2003, Li began living with a different woman, and they had three daughters.

Li's "third wife" is from the village where he lives, and she gave birth to a daughter and son. Li started living with his "fourth wife" - one of his subordinates at a mixing plant - and the woman gave birth to a boy in 2011.

The first three women Li lived with had their hukou registered in the village, and Li is registered as the father of all nine of their children.

The civil affairs bureau in Xiaodian district does not have any information about the marriage status of Li or any of the women.

Li could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Yi Shenghua, a lawyer from the Yingke Law Firm in Beijing, said Li could face bigamy charges if he is legally married to the four women.

"If a man and woman have been living in the name of a couple and if they have children, they are defined as living in actual marital status in legal practice," Yi said.

A former head of a village in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, has been suspended from his post as deputy to a local people's congress after media reports alleging that he has four wives and 10 children, local authorities said.

Villagers claim that Li Junwen, former head of Xizan village and deputy to the people's congress in Xiaodian district in Taiyuan, has four wives and 10 children, most of whom have their hukou, or permanent residency, registered in the village, the Legal Weekly reported on Wednesday.

The people's congress in Xiaodian district suspended Li from his post in the local Party's congress, the district government's publicity bureau said on Thursday. Li has been released on bail pending trial after being detained by police, the authority said in a statement.

According to the report, Li married a woman in the 1990s, and the couple had four children. In 2003, Li began living with a different woman, and they had three daughters.

Li's "third wife" is from the village where he lives, and she gave birth to a daughter and son. Li started living with his "fourth wife" - one of his subordinates at a mixing plant - and the woman gave birth to a boy in 2011.

The first three women Li lived with had their hukou registered in the village, and Li is registered as the father of all nine of their children.

The civil affairs bureau in Xiaodian district does not have any information about the marriage status of Li or any of the women.

Li could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Yi Shenghua, a lawyer from the Yingke Law Firm in Beijing, said Li could face bigamy charges if he is legally married to the four women.

"If a man and woman have been living in the name of a couple and if they have children, they are defined as living in actual marital status in legal practice," Yi said.

Contact the writers at xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn

Cao Yin contributed to this story.