Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Around 250 cases of divorce are filed every month in the Bhopal district family court and most of them are related to minor disputes between husbands and wives. Sometimes, minor disputes even lead to suicide, as happened in the case of 29-year-old Pooja Thapak, an assistant director with the Directorate of Public Relations, in the city recently.
According to NCRB's latest Report, as many as 15,383 people committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh in the year 2022. The report cites 'family problems' as the biggest cause of suicides in the country. The report attributes 31.7% of the suicides to family problems. Marriage-related problems were responsible for another 4.8% suicides.
Counsellors at the district family court say that ego clashes and lack of tolerance and patience are the key reasons behind such disputes. The couples donít try to compromise and often stop talking with each other. That turns even minor differences into major disputes. The counsellors say that when couples donít resolve small differences and instead to recall past issues to humiliate each other, compromise becomes impossible. They say that the decision to end oneís life is taken on the spur of the moment without caring for what would happen to the children.
Sometimes, after a quarrel, women leave their homes and start living with their parents. Some even lodge complaints with the police. That makes compromise even more difficult. 'A wife can always mend a relationship by merely cooking a dish which her husband likes. Or the husband can bring a small gift for the wife while returning home to end a dispute. Even a smile or a hug can do the trick. But what comes in between is ego. Both want the other one to take the first step, to apologise and the disputes continue,' said Noorunnisa Khan, who counsels couples at the family court.
Case I
Seven days after their marriage, a couple had a quarrel. The angry husband told the wife, 'I don't want to see your face.' Hurt, the wife left for her parents' place the same day. Two years later, she is still living with her parents and the couple has applied for divorce.
Case II
A doctor and his government employee wife have filed for divorce eight years after their marriage. The wife says that he calls her 'characterless,' and instigates their six-year-old daughter against her.
