Over 5,000 divorces reported in Sarawak during MCO

The number of divorce cases in Sarawak exceeded 5,000 during the movement control order (MCO) period from March last year until September this year, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff said the number of Muslim divorces recorded during that period was 3,582 cases while 2,076 cases involved non-Muslim couples.

She added that throughout 2020 until July, the ministry had received 31 reports of domestic violence through its Talian Kasih line in the state while 1,017 reports were received by the police statewide.

Siti Zailah said this when replying to a question by Alice Lau Kiong Yieng (DAP-Lanang) during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat.

Lau had wanted to know the statistics on divorces during the MCO period.

Replying to a supplementary question from Lau who also wanted to know the causes of divorce, Siti Zailah said there were many reasons and some were trivial.

“Misunderstanding, drug addiction, and financial issues were some of the reasons. Being hot-tempered and depressed are the other reasons,” she said.

Siti Zailah said her ministry has taken several initiatives to assist in cases involving domestic violence with the cooperation of other agencies.

This includes creating temporary transit centres at mosques, mobile and static local social support centres and safe houses for victims of domestic violence.

For safe houses, Siti Zailah said five premises have been gazetted in Sarawak out of 39 nationwide.