Courts receive 10,103 cases, including divorce and khula, in first nine months of 2026
RAWALPINDI:
Family courts across the district have witnessed a surge in cases involving family disputes, divorce, khula, maintenance, dowry articles, dower and child custody, breaking previous records.
Christian women have also started approaching courts for maintenance and khula after changes making the Christian family divorce system easier.
During the nine months from January 1 to September 30, 2026, a total of 10,103 family dispute cases were filed in family courts across the district.
These included cases involving divorce, children’s maintenance, personal maintenance, return of dowry articles, payment of dower and child custody.
During the same period, 1,246 women were granted divorce decrees, while 220 children taken away from their mothers were recovered and handed back to them. Orders were issued in 11,247 cases for husbands to make immediate temporary payments towards children’s maintenance, while 71 women who had left their homes or in-laws’ houses and were staying with their parents were ordered to return and settle their homes.
As many as 146 husbands were ordered to return dowry articles and pay dower.
The basic reasons cited for family disputes and khula and divorce cases include Facebook, social media, TikTok, Instagram, chat applications and Messenger, with couples engaging in conversations and exchanging messages throughout the night.
Following changes in Christian family law, Christian women have also approached family courts for divorce this year. Previously, Christian women could not directly obtain divorce, but after the permission was granted, 103 Christian women have so far approached family courts for divorce, maintenance and child custody.
This year, 301 women left their homes for love marriages. With the increase in divorce cases, there has also been a record rise in the number of family meetings between children and parents separated from them.
According to the report, 70 per cent of new marriages that were described as incompatible and outside the family system, including love marriages or marriages resulting from social media friendships, failed.
Due to the increase in family cases, family courts at the district courts in Rawalpindi and all tehsil courts remain crowded daily with women and young children. At present, a total of 16,941 new and old family cases are pending before family courts across the district.
Family cases lawyer Madam Zeb Fayyaz Advocate said the family system should be revived for marriages and a family reconciliation council system should be established at the union council level. She suggested that retired judges be appointed as chairmen and local mosque imams and professors as members of the reconciliation councils.
She said children up to matriculation should not be given complete autonomy through mobile phones and their mobile activities should be monitored. She said mobile phones were a necessity today but children should not be allowed to use them freely until late at night.
Former District and Sessions Judge Shaukat Ali Sajid said social media had brought improvements and employment opportunities but had also created such problems. He said there was an urgent need for a mechanism to keep children away from social media.
He said that in love marriages, family members often prefer divorce over reconciliation over minor issues, which was not appropriate. He said both sets of parents had to play a role in making a marriage work, otherwise the deterioration would have serious effects in the future, or the family marriage system should be implemented.
