Social Networking Shakes Married Life Of Many In Kashmir
SRINAGAR: Shaheen and Yasir was a happy couple till she again met her “childhood sweetheart” on Facebook last year.
The Facebook chat that Yasir discovered between his wife and her ‘boyfriend’ was reason enough to accuse Shaheen of infidelity and divorce her.
With tens of thousands Kashmiris registered with social networking sites more and more couples are blaming Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp for souring their relationships if not destroying them.
“I remember the day my husband walked into the room and said guess who I just add in my friend list?” Sadiya a housewife said.
“I asked who? My husband shamelessly said … My school girl, my first love.”
“Since then things are now well between us,” Sadiya added. “My husband spends many hours on Facebook and not a few minutes with me.”
Psychiatrists and Counsellors say there has been a significant rise in cases where partners have admitted their addiction to social media sites affecting their relationships.
“An epidemic of online infidelity is causing the breakup of countless Kashmiri marriages, destroying their relationships and affecting mental health,” a psychiatrist said.
Lawyers say that social networking particularly on Facebook, which connects old friends and allow users to make new ones online, is being blamed for adding number of marital breakdowns.
“We have seen most of the divorce cases are of those couples who are more addicted to social networking sites” Ufaira Rashid, a lawyer said.
There are no official figures, but the number of marital breakdowns is “worrying”, the lawyer added.
Suspicious spouses have also used the websites to find evidence of flirting and even affairs which have led to divorce in Kashmir, which was otherwise an easy going society but has been blighted by decades of violence.
Earlier last month a 30-year-old teacher ended her marriage after discovering her husband had been having an affair with someone he met on Facebook.
“It can happen to the strongest of marriages” Ufaira Rashid added.
(Some names have been changed)
The Facebook chat that Yasir discovered between his wife and her ‘boyfriend’ was reason enough to accuse Shaheen of infidelity and divorce her.
With tens of thousands Kashmiris registered with social networking sites more and more couples are blaming Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp for souring their relationships if not destroying them.
“I remember the day my husband walked into the room and said guess who I just add in my friend list?” Sadiya a housewife said.
“I asked who? My husband shamelessly said … My school girl, my first love.”
“Since then things are now well between us,” Sadiya added. “My husband spends many hours on Facebook and not a few minutes with me.”
Psychiatrists and Counsellors say there has been a significant rise in cases where partners have admitted their addiction to social media sites affecting their relationships.
“An epidemic of online infidelity is causing the breakup of countless Kashmiri marriages, destroying their relationships and affecting mental health,” a psychiatrist said.
Lawyers say that social networking particularly on Facebook, which connects old friends and allow users to make new ones online, is being blamed for adding number of marital breakdowns.
“We have seen most of the divorce cases are of those couples who are more addicted to social networking sites” Ufaira Rashid, a lawyer said.
There are no official figures, but the number of marital breakdowns is “worrying”, the lawyer added.
Suspicious spouses have also used the websites to find evidence of flirting and even affairs which have led to divorce in Kashmir, which was otherwise an easy going society but has been blighted by decades of violence.
Earlier last month a 30-year-old teacher ended her marriage after discovering her husband had been having an affair with someone he met on Facebook.
“It can happen to the strongest of marriages” Ufaira Rashid added.
(Some names have been changed)
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