Dr Lekhjung Thapa, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) candidate for the by-election in Rupandehi Constituency No. 3, has been found to have engaged in polygamy and divorced after a legal case was filed against him.
On Tuesday morning, Thapa shared an order from the Rupandehi District Court on the social media platform Facebook, claiming that a divorce had already taken place.
In the materials related to the divorce that he made public, Thapa has intentionally concealed certain details. The portion he shared does not clarify which wife he divorced or the reasons behind the divorce.
Upon searching for and studying the full court order, it was found that Thapa’s second wife, Numa Sharma, had filed a case against him. The complaint does not specify whether it was filed by the first or second wife. Had it been mentioned, it would have been clear at the time that he had committed polygamy. If the first wife had filed the case, it would have mentioned that he had committed polygamy by marrying a second wife while still married to the first one. Thapa’s neighbors have said that Numa is his second wife.
According to the case filed in court, Thapa and Numa were married in 2013, and their son was born on October 5, 2014.
In the case filed by his wife Numa, it is stated that Thapa did not provide her with food or clothing, subjected her to physical and mental torture, and drove her out of the house on January 4, 2023.
It was found that after the case was registered, Thapa reached a settlement in court with his second wife on January 29, 2023, resulting in a divorce.
It appears that Thapa married his second wife, Numa, and had a child with her while still legally married to his first wife, Sulochana Ghimire.
On his YouTube channel named “Super Thapa Family,” Thapa had uploaded a video five years ago featuring his first wife, Sulochana Ghimire, his second wife, Numa Sharma, and both sons.
The video credits Thapa as the director, Sulochana as the production designer, and Numa as the writer. This indicates that Thapa lived together with both wives for some years.
In the divorce settlement, Numa has not claimed any alimony. It mentions that both parents would share responsibility for their son’s upbringing.
On Sunday evening, Setopati published a news article titled "RSP nominates Lekhjung Thapa as candidate amid complaints of polygamy."
After the news was published, Thapa made his TikTok and YouTube accounts private, restricting access to videos and content featuring both wives. Setopati has saved a copy of the video titled “Super Thapa Family.”
Marrying another person while already married is a criminal offense according to law, and is viewed as moral turpitude socially.
While publishing the news on Sunday, we asked RSP General Secretary Kabindra Burlakoti whether Thapa had engaged in polygamy.
Burlakoti claimed that Thapa had married twice but only after divorcing his first wife.
“He apparently had a second marriage, but he had married again only after divorcing his first wife. The child from the first wife is with Lekhjungji,” he told Setopati.
The by-election in Rupandehi Constituency No. 3 is scheduled for November 3.
On Tuesday morning, Thapa shared materials related to the divorce partially on Facebook along with a lengthy clarification.
He wrote:
“My 96-year-old mother lives in Rupandehi-3. I had planned to take the first flight to share the joy of becoming a candidate with my mother and seek her blessings. I thought that the good deeds I tried to do as a doctor would make headlines, and I would show those to my mother and assure her that politics would now be clean and she would see the signs of change in her lifetime.
But life doesn’t always go as planned! While my mother waits for me in Bhairahawa to give her blessings, I am in Kathmandu answering those raising questions about my personal life. Let it be known to everyone raising questions: my family life is neither illegal nor problematic.”
