1937 divorce cases in Kerala in three months

The state is apparently credited to be the divorce capital of the country
The recent divorce pleas of Minister for Cinema K B Ganesh Kumar and wife Yamini Thankachi, and actor/director Siddharth Bharathan and wife Anju Das have once again turned the spotlight on divorce cases in Kerala.
While it’s just the celebrity divorces that hit the headlines, the number of divorce cases in Kerala has been on a steady increase.
From 8,456 divorce cases in 2005-06 to 38,231 in 2011, the statistics from recent months indicate an increase in the number of broken families. Incidentally, Kerala accounts for 1.96 lakh of the nation’s 23.43 lakh divorced or separated women.
“In the last three months, 1937 divorce cases have been registered in family courts across Kerala, which is quite high when compared to the national average,” says Arun, a staff member of the Kerala Women’s Commission cell.
Advocate Sherin Rahman, who has registered as many as 400 original petitions (OP) for divorce, says most of the divorces happen over flimsy reasons. “While some remain as a couple for the sake of their children, others file for divorce even at the slightest provocation,” she says.
Marriage among young couples is one of the reasons cited by psychiatrists for the increasing number of divorce cases.
Psychiatrist S D Singh says, “Blame it on the ‘love at first sight’ instances, which are a result of mere physical attraction. Such marriages are called physical marriages. Couples often tie the knot without any strong emotional bonding.”
According to Dr C J John, every couple’s primary needs are intimacy and emotional nourishment. “Couples today pre-write a script about their partner before getting to know the other person. As a result, expectations will be quite high before the marriage. And after the marriage, they are not ready to make any adjustments, eventually transforming it into a non-negotiable relationship,” he says. Lifestyle changes too are reasons for the rising break-ups, psychologists point out. Dr Singh says now youngsters give too much importance to their professional life. “However, when things don’t work out as planned, they become depressed, which in turn would affect their marriage. Alcohol addiction owing to depression too is affecting the sexual life of many couples,” he says.
Dr John’s advice to young couples is to give space and appreciate each other, be ready to make adjustments and compromises to make a relationship work. “Leave no room for professional rivalry in your personal life. More importantly, let go off your ego,” he says.
Celebrity divorces that hit the headlines
K B Ganesh Kumar-Yamini Thankachi (2013)
Mamta Mohandas-Pregith Padmanabhan (2012)
Urvashi-Manoj K Jayan (2012)
Kalpana-Anil (2012)
Kavya Madhavan-Nishal Chandra (2011)
Jyothirmayi-Nishanth (2011)
Mukesh-Saritha (2009)
Sai Kumar-Prasanna Kumari (2009)
Revathy-Suresh Menon (2002)
Number of divorce cases
January 2012 – December 2012 (6531)
January 2013 – March 2013 (1937)