Kathmandu, April 1:

Sabitri (name changed) is living with her ex-husband Ramesh Risal in Nayabazaar even after they divorced two years ago.

The Kathmandu District Court (KDC) granted them divorce after Sabitri approached the court. However, she still lives with Ramesh because their divorce was just a farce devised to evade some legal tangle involving Ramesh’s property.

“We have received information about such fake divorces, but we can do nothing in this matter,” KDC registrar Krishna Ram Koirala told this daily, adding: “This is their personal matter and court cannot intervene in it.”

He said Ramesh’s case was just an example. “Actually there are many couples who are living together even after getting divorce from the courts,” Koirala added.

He said such couples use the divorce certificates for some other purposes. “Some couples seek divorce in order to enjoy the facilities a single person could avail, while the others do it to avoid possible legal problems, mostly to hide property or to achieve some benefits,” he added.

Data available at the KDC show that around three couples approach the court every day seeking divorce. During the last 14 office days from March 14 to 30, 35 divorce cases were lodged in the court. And, 61 divorce cases were lodged in between February 13 and March 13. During these 17 days, 77 civil and 47 criminal cases were registered at

the court.

During the fiscal year 2063-64 BS, among the total 2,398 cases registered by the KDC, 794 were divorce cases. The number is 300 per cent more than it was five years ago.

Women rights lawyer Meera Dhungana, however, analyses it differently. “More number of divorces can be attributed to increased awareness among the women and property rights granted to them. They seek divorce rather than resist violence, torture and mistreatment at homes,” she said. She, however, accepted that some people might have been seeking fake divorce to evade legal tangles.

Some people going abroad, too, seek divorce, so that they could get permanent resident status abroad by marrying to a person of the country concerned, no matter such marriages and divorces may remain only in papers.

“Youths have a tendency to seek divorce to achieve even petty benefits,” said Dr Rajit Bhakta Pradhananga. He warned the couples seeking fake divorce that it can brew up some serious problems between the partners immediately or at a later stage.

“Women have become stronger now but they have a tendency to move the court even when the disputes are negotiable,” he added.