Rawalpindi district witnesses sharp rise in divorce, khula cases

The Rawalpindi district appears to have observed an unprecedented rise in the number of divorce and khulah-related cases filed between January to July 2022 with social being cited as a major reason for the rising number of such cases in family courts

A large number of women sought khula while an equal number of girls, who ran away from homes and tied the knot, also approached the family courts seeking divorce and khula.

Most of the girls who ran away from homes and entered into court marriage were mostly students.

Cases of domestic disputes, family disintegration and love marriages also flooded the family courts

According to the record, a total of 5,216 cases have been filed in all family courts across the Rawalpindi district since January 1.

These include cases of divorce, khula, dowry, custody of children, expenses of children and extradition of children. A total of 457 men also filed cases seeking to patch up with their estranged wives.

Family courts issued 2,114 degrees of khula and divorce to women while men were ordered to pay monthly expenses to children and the estranged wives in 2,891 cases.

Court also ordered 51 annoyed women to return to their in-laws. At present, a total of 9,602 cases were pending in all family courts across the Rawalpindi district.

Since June 1, 231 women and girls fled their homes including married women. Married women later moved to other cities and got divorced from their husbands on the basis of khula and remarried.

During this period, a total of 102 women and girls were sent to Dar-ul-Aman and later they were allowed to go with their husbands after recording their statements.

According to family court sources, 78 per cent of women who sought khula were those who had married of their own free will.

Most of these marriages were solemnized after the couple met on social media platforms such as Tik Tok, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram but most of these marriages ended up in divorce and khula.

It soon transpired that most grooms were turned out to be crooks, criminals and unemployed which forced the women to seek divorce and khula, the sources said.

Family cases have also seen a sharp rise in Gujar Khan, Kalar Syedan, Kahuta, Kotli Satian, Murree and Taxila tehsil courts.

Masood Shah advocate, who is pursuing family cases, said that social media has destroyed and played havoc with the norms of society. He said that many females were targeted by men through blackmailing after making uploading their pictures and videos after two or three days of friendship on social media.

Sabtain Bukhari advocate said that in arranged marriages, elders of families sit together in case of any domestic dispute and such marriages mostly do not lead to divorce while in love marriages, the girls’ parents get angry from the first day and they find an excuse to quarrel with the in-laws of their daughters.

Advocate Najaf Al-Hasnain was of the view that on social media, a girl cannot ascertain the background of a boy and his past and when the truth surfaces, the couple starts quarrelling and eventually such marriages end up in divorce and khula. He, however, said that several love marriages also succeed.

Mahesh Shahzadi, a woman who had come to the court seeking khula, said that she had married of her free will but after the marriage, it dawned upon her that her husband was already married and had three children.

“After two months of good behaviour, he stop giving me money in order to meet the household expenses of his wife and children,” she said adding that now the attitude of her husband has changed completely despite the fact that they have a baby girl.

Advocate Shaan Zeb Khan said that divorce and khula degrees were now being granted only taking into consideration the statement of women.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2022.