Agus Maryono – The Banyumas Religious Court in Central Java has announced a significant increase in the number of divorce cases in the region, the majority of which stemmed from economic problems.

Junior clerk Muhammad Farid of the Purwokerto (capital of Banyumas) religious court said that his office had recorded a 70 percent increase of divorce cases compared to last year.

The court has handled 250 divorce cases a month on average so far this year, he said. Last year the average number was 150 cases a month. In 2008, he added, his office received 1,377 divorce cases. That increased to 1,505 the following year and to 1,894 cases last year.

"It was too many for us to handle as in the same year we had 500 leftover cases from the year before," Farid told The Jakarta Post at his office, Friday.

He said most of the divorce requests were filed by wives. "Some said they [sought divorce] because their husbands could no longer support their families economically either because they were unemployed or because they had lost their jobs," Farid said.

Of the 1,894 divorce cases last year, he added, 1,466 stated economic difficulties as the reason for divorce. In 694 of those cases the husbands were said to have been incapable of financially supporting their families, and in the other 872 cases the husbands were reported to have not had steady income, which led to quarrelling with their wives.

Other reasons stated for divorce included moral issues and domestic violence, Banyumas said.