TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Social media is a major cause of divorce in Balikpapan, according to the city’s religious court official. Disagreement between married couple has often been sparked by trivial issues on social media.
“Some cases are attributed to spouse's jealousy when they cought their partner having a social media affair,” said a judge of Balikpapan Religious Court Rusinah on Friday.
Rusinah said the use of social media often triggers never ending arguments which lead to a divorce as mutual trust dissipated.
Moreover, Rusinah said poverty also played a major role in divorce in Balikpapan. Many wives file for divorce when they learned that the husband can no longer provide financial support.
“Economy has been a dominant factor, aside from social media. The number [of divorce cases] continues to rise indeed,” she said.
The region has seen an increase of divorce cases handled by its Religious Court, from 1,460 to 1,535. Rusinah added that the court has been promoting reconciliation when couples are in the process of divorcing.
“We have tried to reconcile them, to stop divorce, but only one or two had been willing to reconcile, the rest had opted for divorce,” she said.
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