UNB Khulna :
All was going well for love birds Nahian and Sultana of Boyra area of the district town who had tied the knot barely two years ago, but things took a wrong turn when Nahian had started demanding dowry from his wife.
This kept on leading to altercations and Nahian then started beating Sultana quite frequently. Nahian also stopped paying for Sultana’s living expenses.
A distressed Sultana then went to the Women Repression Prevention Cell for help. The cell’s marital department mediated between Nahian and Sultana, and the couple then filed for divorce on July 25, 2015.
The divorce story of Nahian and Sultana has been echoing in and around Khulna region as more married couples are applying to get a divorce every day.
This has led to a greater social concern as the break-ups in families are leading to negative consequences for other family members, particularly the children of separated parents.
Around 7,547 divorce cases were registered in the district over the last five and a half years. The reasons for rising divorce include mental and physical torture, personality conflicts, dowry demands, weaker marital bonds, lack of mutual respect and unity, abuse, adultery and financial hardship.
According to Khulna City Corporation (KCC), the rate of divorce has been on the rise since 2010. Women are the majority among applicants who are filing divorce cases.
The city corporation grants a period of 90 days to the couples to consider their divorce decisions. If they decide to keep the marriage alive, they can withdraw their divorce cases to continue living as husband-wife like before.
MM Shafiqur Rahman, assistant director of the Assistance to Women Programme, Khulna, told UNB, “Married couples these days are becoming more intolerant than ever before. So, they tend to file for divorce over trivial matters. Divorce badly affects the children of the couples, if they have any. Children with separated parents always have a mental strain that they need to cope with their future problems.”
He said that the Assistance to Women Programme does not encourage divorce and conducts counseling to save broken marriages and protect familial ties.
Prof Salma Sharmin of Sociology Department of Government BL College said, “Women today are more aware and independent, hence they protest any untoward behaviour of their husbands. When their protests yield no positive outcome, they file for divorce outright.”
Salma suggested that growing mutual trust and respect and changing social perspectives can help reduce the tendency of filing divorce cases among educated Bangladeshi married couples.
Shandha Gayin, a lawyer of the Assistance to Women programme, told UNB, “Polygamy is also there in society which is also leading to problems among couples. Cheating on one’s spouse using social media such as Facebook is also another factor for divorce. Couples should try to sort out their differences by themselves and work together to restore marital peace leading to a happy family, instead of thinking of getting divorced.”
All was going well for love birds Nahian and Sultana of Boyra area of the district town who had tied the knot barely two years ago, but things took a wrong turn when Nahian had started demanding dowry from his wife.
This kept on leading to altercations and Nahian then started beating Sultana quite frequently. Nahian also stopped paying for Sultana’s living expenses.
A distressed Sultana then went to the Women Repression Prevention Cell for help. The cell’s marital department mediated between Nahian and Sultana, and the couple then filed for divorce on July 25, 2015.
The divorce story of Nahian and Sultana has been echoing in and around Khulna region as more married couples are applying to get a divorce every day.
This has led to a greater social concern as the break-ups in families are leading to negative consequences for other family members, particularly the children of separated parents.
Around 7,547 divorce cases were registered in the district over the last five and a half years. The reasons for rising divorce include mental and physical torture, personality conflicts, dowry demands, weaker marital bonds, lack of mutual respect and unity, abuse, adultery and financial hardship.
According to Khulna City Corporation (KCC), the rate of divorce has been on the rise since 2010. Women are the majority among applicants who are filing divorce cases.
The city corporation grants a period of 90 days to the couples to consider their divorce decisions. If they decide to keep the marriage alive, they can withdraw their divorce cases to continue living as husband-wife like before.
MM Shafiqur Rahman, assistant director of the Assistance to Women Programme, Khulna, told UNB, “Married couples these days are becoming more intolerant than ever before. So, they tend to file for divorce over trivial matters. Divorce badly affects the children of the couples, if they have any. Children with separated parents always have a mental strain that they need to cope with their future problems.”
He said that the Assistance to Women Programme does not encourage divorce and conducts counseling to save broken marriages and protect familial ties.
Prof Salma Sharmin of Sociology Department of Government BL College said, “Women today are more aware and independent, hence they protest any untoward behaviour of their husbands. When their protests yield no positive outcome, they file for divorce outright.”
Salma suggested that growing mutual trust and respect and changing social perspectives can help reduce the tendency of filing divorce cases among educated Bangladeshi married couples.
Shandha Gayin, a lawyer of the Assistance to Women programme, told UNB, “Polygamy is also there in society which is also leading to problems among couples. Cheating on one’s spouse using social media such as Facebook is also another factor for divorce. Couples should try to sort out their differences by themselves and work together to restore marital peace leading to a happy family, instead of thinking of getting divorced.”
