Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Panaji (Agenzia Fides) – The divorce rate continues to rise in unprecedented proportions in the Indian state of Goa. The situation has been defined as “alarming” bu Fr. Savio Rodrigues, advisor at St. Britto de Mapusa High School, where a large number of the students’ parents are divorced. The children are, in fact, the ones who suffer the most from the consequences of a breakup in the family. “I have received several cases of kids taking to drugs to escape the reality of a broken home,” the priest said. Not to mention the cases of those who are at the point of committing suicide.
Goa registered 384 divorce cases in 2007, a little more than one per day. Of these, 232 cases were reported in North Goa alone. This was a jump from the previous year’s 171 divorces recorded in the region. since January this year, 78 divorces have already been filed in the north. Down south, the figures stayed on a similar trend. While Salcete and Mormugao talukas registered 93 and 95 cases each in 2006, divorces jumped to 109 and 49 cases respectively in 2007. Since 2008 already there are 13 and 30.
The women between 50 and 60 years of age that are treated badly and suffer abuse from their husbands prefer separation to divorce. “Separation could well be a step taken by the husband and wife to safeguard family reputation. It also allows room for the couple to come together in future," said Fr Socorro Mendes, Family Service Centre, Archdiocese of Goa. “Often, due to social stigma and the fear of hampering their children's - especially daughter's -- marriage prospects, women are forced to continue in a difficult relationship. They prefer to stay separately with the tag of being 'married women'," said women's rights activist Albertina Almeida.
Those who study the local family and sociological problems say that there are reasons behind the increase in divorce, in addition to the emancipation of the woman. Many leave Goa for work: the distance between the spouses is a determining factor in the diminishing of the physical and emotional attachment, which later results in an attraction towards other persons. Moreover, nowadays, spouses are learned people with professional qualifications. They know the laws and rights, and as they are for the most part financially independent, they prefer to get a divorce than live an unhappy marriage. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 4/6/2008)
