Zafar Pirov, 40 has been charged with driving his new wife to suicide and could face up to eight years in prison if found guilty.
His wife Rajabbi Khurshed, 18, killed herself days after her arranged marriage him in the village of Charbogh, Tajikistan, Daily Mail states.
Pirov demanded his wife take two further virginity tests in addition to the government-required exam in Tajikistan. Pre-marriage virginity tests for women are common in Tajikistan.
He then asked for a second wife after refusing to believe the results.
Khurshed’s family told Radio Free Europe their daughter told them on her deathbed she had been under enormous pressure from her husband and “couldn’t take it any longer.”
Her mother, Fazila Mirzoeva, described her daughter as a victim of “slander and violence”.
He defended himself, telling RFE/RL: “My wife gave me a written statement that she allows me to get a second wife because she wasn’t a virgin when we got married.”
In 2015, medical checks before marriage were made compulsory for both men and women, although only women are subjected to virginity tests.
