Divorces on rise among educated couples in Bangladesh: Official data

There has been a growth of divorce rate among couples having higher educational background in Bangladesh in the past seven years, according to an official data.

The divorce rate is highest in the southwestern coastal Barisal region, while it is lowest in the northeastern and northwestern Sylhet and Chittagong, considered as conservative parts in the country, Bangladesh's Bureau of Statistics (BBS) figures suggested.

The divorce rate shot up to 34 per cent nationwide in the last seven years, it said, adding that the incidents of such estrangements were more prominent among couples having higher educational backgrounds.

Officials of Dhaka City Corporation, which register divorces, also said well educated, professional and wealthy women are comparatively filing more divorce suits.

"Increased awareness and maladjustments are prompting couples to severe their relationships," reported Prothom Alo newspaper, which analysed the BBS statistics.

According to rights activist Rasheda K Chowhdury, Bangladeshi women are now taking the lead in severing their nuptial cords, though the general trend earlier suggested that they tried to save the marriages.

This phenomenon "needs a thorough research", she was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"In many cases, underage girls are forcibly married off by their parents to a much older men...at one stage such marriages breakup," Chowhdury said.

She further said that divorces "expose the children of the estranged couples to a state of mental unrest, in many cases for the rest of their lives".