TASHKENT (BBC) — Uzbekistan is stepping up its drive to abolish polygamy even as the practice appears to be common in the predominantly Muslim country. Mullahs and imams will face more severe penalties for allowing married men to take another wife in the nikah (نکاح) marriage rite

Polygamous relationships have been illegal in Uzbekistan since Soviet times, but in reality in many rural districts of the Tashkent area, clergymen (mullahs) incite younger males to marry second wives. Since their marriages usually are not registered, they freely divorce and get married to a different one. In this context, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has launched a campaign to curb the “undesirable consequences” of polygamy.

“To stop this lawlessness we are drawing up a draft bill,” Mirziyoyev said on 19 June. “Every mullah that performs the nikah rites without a witness or marriage registration documents will be punished.”