Divorce cases up in Purwokerto

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: The Idul Fitri holiday not only gave rise to the usual tradition of bringing families together here, but it also brought about the odd phenomenon of breaking couples apart in the Purwokerto area.

A religious court official here revealed that in the week prior to and after Idul Fitri on Jan. 8, more than 90 couples filed for divorce.

"About 70 percent of them are young couples who had just returned for Idul Fitri," head of the local religious court Djamhuri Romadhon told The Jakarta Post here on Saturday.

It is expected that this number will top the average number of divorces filed per month of about 100.

Djamhuri pointed out that during previous year's Idul Fitri holidays the number of divorces reached between 150 to 200.

The couples have usually lived apart for sometime. Either the husband or the wife works in the city, mostly Jakarta, and when they return they find they have a multitude of unresolved marital problems.

The most common cause is one of the spouses suspects the other has been unfaithful while the other was away. (45)