(a) being married, goes through the form of marriage
with any other person during the life of his or her wife or husband; or
(b)
goes through the form of marriage with any person whom he or she knows to be
married;
is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 7 years.
(2)
It is a defence to a charge of either of the offences defined in this section
to prove that at the time of committing the alleged offence the wife or
husband of the person already married had been continually absent from him or
her for the space of 7 years then last past, unless it is shown that the
accused person knew that such wife or husband was living within that time.
