During the last six months about 7,000 cases of domestic violence were` registered in family courts out of which four thousand women filed Khula owing to the malpractices of their husbands while three thousand men have filed separation cases due to the misbehaviour of their counterpart, a survey conducted by The News revealed.
At present 90 percent cases of separation, Khula (dissolution of marriage) and divorce were pending in the family courts of five different districts of the city. The survey further revealed that after the Women Protection Bill, Khula cases were increased to 4 per cent as under this law woman has the right to dissociate herself from her husband if there is some disliking between them and no law can force a woman to live with her husband.
In most of the cases a woman had to move from court to court to get the divorce as her counterpart denied divorce due to heavy caution (Mahr) money that was fixed at the time of marriage. The heavy amount was fixed by the brides’ parents for security reasons, but they do not realise that this money is no guarantee of their daughter’s secured life. This trend of heavy caution money has increased in the society which not only adds corruption into the lives of common people but marriage has become a profession for many.
The reason behind the alarming increase in khula cases cited by different lawyers as maltreatment of husbands/inlaws, not fulfilling marital obligation, which resulted in disputes and dissolution of marriages.
The date collected from different city courts showed that the District West being the smallest courts has lower number of civil suit cases while other four district courts deal with 1,000 cases in the month.
The trend of early marriages have also increased with parents wanting to be free from all worries who get their daughters married at the age of 16 which is also another factor that leads to domestic dispute thus ends in dissolution of marriages. As at the age of 16 a premature girl’s mind is quite aggressive and never wanted to compromise with the husband even on petty issues. In many cases young girls sit in their parents’ home only because her husband has not taken her for an outing. A senior lawyer, Mohammed Aqil, said that the media had played a negative role in this connection as the glamour shown on TV has changed the mindset of a girl who wanted a life full of comforts, luxuries and extravaganza.
The News, however, has learnt through courts’ survey that judges have issued decree in about 1,000 Khula cases while for other 1,000 cases women withdrew their demand after the courts’ counselling. The civil courts’ lawyers were of the view that cases of Khula were mostly found in the lower middle class, but going through the courts it was learnt that not only the uneducated women were trying to get rid of their husbands but in most cases the educated women were also tired of their husbands as they used to beat them, torture, threaten to kill them.
Source: The News
Date:6/22/2008
