Official said the tax is meant to discourage people from taking more than one wife.

DHAKA — The fourth-largest city in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh will impose taxes to discourage men from taking more than one wife.

"We have imposed the taxes to prevent such acts and for the welfare of the families," Rajshahi Mayor Mijanur Rahman Minu told Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding that the new tax will come into force as of July.

Any man marrying a second wife will face a one-time tax of 10,000 taka (142 dollars).

The tax will rise to 30,000 taka for a third marriage and 40,000 taka for a fourth, said Minu.

The northwestern city of Rajshahi has an estimated population of 700,000.

It is home to many educational institutes, and is often referred to in Bangladesh as education city.

Bangladesh is the world third-largest Muslim majority country with a population of some 148 million.

Muslims make up 83% of the population, Hindu 16%, other 1%, according to the CIA online World Fact Book.

Discourage

Minu said city officials had agreed to introduce the tax to try to discourage people from taking more than one wife.

"Polygamy is a disrespectful and outdated act in this modern age," said the mayor.

Polygamy continues in many parts of Bangladesh although it has become a rarity in the bigger cities.

Islam sees polygamy as a realistic answer to some social woes like adulterous affairs and lamentable living conditions of a widow or a divorced woman.

A Muslim man who seeks a second or a third wife should, however, make sure that he would treat them all on an equal footing, even in terms of compassion.

The Noble Qur'an says that though polygamy is lawful it is very hard for a man to guarantee such fairness.