Family courts in Rawalpindi witnessed a sharp rise in divorce and khula cases in the last one year.
According to data, 10,312 cases of divorce, khula, maintenance, guardianship were filed in the family courts in the district from January 1 to November 9.
Some 445 women were issued divorce degrees while the guardianship of 272 children was given to their mothers.
The family courts issued orders to 41 wives to reconcile with their husbands after settling affairs while 2,135 women opted for free-will marriage during the same period.
Some 331 married women took shelter at Darul Amaan, while 201 men also sought protection in shelter homes.
Around 70 per cent of divorce cases were of women who had solemnised the free-will marriage.
Some of these women said big claims were made before the marriage but after it, the husband turns out to be unemployed, lazy and assaulter.
They said that the attitude of their in-laws was also bitter because of the free-will marriage and such women start missing their parents’ homes.
Currently, 13,000 cases were pending adjudication in the family courts in the Rawalpindi district.
Family lawyers including Tayabba Abbasi, Masood Shah and Sibtain Bukhari said the use of social media has played a 'destructive role in destroying young boys and girls'.
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They suggested parents should keep a strict eye on their young children if they were giving them mobile phones and the internet.
They said in the case of arranged marriages, the elders of the families intervene and settle the differences in case of discord between a couple.
On the contrary, the lawyers said both families add fuel to the fire in such cases of free-will marriages.
Two women including A* and N*, who were seeking khula from their husbands after three months of marriage, said that their husbands made tall claims and fake promises before the marriage.
They later learnt that their husbands lived in rented houses and used their friends’ motorcycles.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2021.
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