The Covid-19 pandemic situation has made lives of people miserable since the last year. With work from home culture made normal amongst employees, people spent most of their time at home with their families.
However, if this time with family has been proving to help some get close to their families, for many it has also broken their marriages.
Data provided by lawyers of family courts all over India has proven that there is atleast 30 per cent increase in petitions seeking for divorce since 2020 pandemic.
About a dozen petitions are filed every day in these courts with more than 10 petitions seeking divorce each day.
Due to the increased time that families are spending in this pandemic situation, there is this constant mental incompatibility between couples and in-laws that which is affecting the marriage for a lot of couples in India.
Psychologists, family court lawyers, counselors and relationship experts say that the causes of divorce is also the financial issues faced amid covid situation, infidelity and domestic violence between couples.
As per advocates, couples seeking divorce are mostly younger ones, with less than five years of marriage.
"Infidelity, extramarital affairs, physical and psychological incompatibility, over indulgence in pornography leading to unrealistic expectations and dissatisfied sexual life, financial insecurity and job losses, altercations with in-laws and harassment by them during prolonged stay at home are the main reasons for seeking of divorce," said a senior advocate of family court in India.
Alcohol addiction and torturing have also made spouses lose interest in their partners. This has resulted in secret extra marital affairs which led to divorces in the lives of many couples in India.
"Domestic violence, torture by in-laws, marriages forced on children by parents without taking their opinions, sexual dissatisfaction, overindulgence in pornography, job losses and financial insecurity – all these have also adversely impacted marital relationships leading to an increase in seeking separation and divorce," said a relationship expert while talking to a media reporter.
However, it's not only broken marriage which is a concerning issue amid the Covid pandemic situation in India. The country has also reported high rates of child marriages amid the pandemic since last year.
A Global Girlhood Report 2020 warns that some 500,000 more girls were likely to be at risk in 2020 of being forced into child marriage and one million more are expected to become pregnant. This increase will bring the total number of child marriages to around 12.5 million in 2020.
Interestingly, before the Covid pandemic, India which accounts for one in every three child marriages around globe, was a world leader in working to reduce child marriage through awareness campaign and education imparted.
However, the pandemic has changed the reputation. The long lockdown in 2020 has left many workers and labourers jobless pushing them into poverty. This has forced many families forced to consider child marriage to alleviate poverty.
In 2021 too, the country has faced numerous cases of divorces and child marriages. Although restrictions, work from home culture and lockdown is helping in the reduction of Covid cases in India, unfortunately it has not been able to do much good in saving relationships.
