Muscat: The number of divorce cases went up to 3,837 in 2021 as compared to 3,426 in 2020, with the Muscat governorate registering 853 such cases, the highest among the governorates in the Sultanate of Oman, according to the report published by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) for August 2022.

As for the increase that roughly translates into 10 divorce cases each day in the Sultanate in 2021, different demographers and social experts have proffered different theories for such a disturbing trend. Adnan Al Hesni from the wilayat of Seeb in Muscat governorate attributes the tendency to the rise in feminism in the Sultanate and blind aping of the ways of the West.

Moath Al-Saidi from wilayat of Al-Khaboura in North Al Batinah governorate said one of the reasons for divorce is the growing requirements of the traditional Omani family in the face of rising costs, especially during the wave of COVID-19.

The pandemic, he said, has wreaked havoc on the Omani society and many small and medium businesses suffered huge financial losses and are lying shut.

Besides, “the differences in intellect between the spouses, the disparity in social status or age between them, high dowries or the huge costs of wedding parties, reservation of marriage halls, the attendant costs of food and travel for the honeymoon and the demand for a separate house and a car, are among the reasons for divorce when the husband feels that his wife has burdened him with unbearable debts and financial consequences. Then there were the rising costs of raising children to contend with,” he said.

Mohammed Shanfari from the Wilayat of Salalah in the governorate of Dhofar said that social media is also one of the causes of divorce as addiction to it of either of the spouses means ignoring or neglecting their domestic duties.

Besides, a whole world of glamour and glitz opens before them wherein they come across all the luxuries of life in terms of clothing, homes, fashion or other such pastimes of the rich and find themselves at a disadvantage.

This in conjunction with a gap in communication or understanding creates a psychological, sexual and social distance between the husband and wife contributing to the increasing cases of divorce, he further added.

Rashid Al-Sudairi from the wilayat of Yanqul in Al Dhahirah governorate, said: “Greed for the wife’s salary is also one of the reasons for divorce. In today’s society many grooms plan beforehand to get for themselves an earning wife so that life continues smoothly and without any financial strain.”

“There have been cases where the wife’s earning has been used on the expenses of the family or to obtain loans from banks. This develops into marital problems later on,” he further said.