Couple jailed for killing spouses wed in Nepal prison

KATHMANDU: A man and a woman each serving time for killing their first spouses have married in a prison in western Nepal -- but won’t be able to consummate the marriage until the groom is released in 14 years.

The couple are both in Kalikot District Jail where Dilli Koirala, 33, is serving a 20-year sentence for murdering his wife, while Mimkosha Bista has another four years to serve for killing her husband.

The match between the convicted murderers, who had never met prior to the marriage ceremony, was set up by Koirala’s mother -- also in prison for helping her son kill his first wife.

"He murdered his wife and I did in my husband. His mother likes me and that is one of the reasons I drew close to him," Bista, 30, said after the wedding ceremony, according to Republica newspaper.

A Hindu ceremony was performed by a local priest on Thursday morning, witnessed by jail staff and fellow inmates, prison official Sanjay Mahato told AFP.

"They are not allowed to stay together in the jail as we have separate sections for male and female prisoners. But we have decided to allow them to have a face to face chat twice a month," he added.

Lawyer Danam Raj Bam, who attended the unusual marriage, told AFP that the couple had decided to get hitched because they thought they would be unlikely to find anyone else willing to marry them.

"Since we both happen to have committed the same kind of crime, we won’t be in any position to look down upon one another," the groom Koirala said, according to local media.

Kalikot District Jail is a small prison in rural western Nepal with just 53 prisoners -- 50 men and three women.