Following the implemen­tation of the new Civil Code (2017), the number of men seeking to part ways with their wives has shot up. In a month and a half starting August 17, 98 men applied for divorce at the Kathmandu Dis­trict Court (KDC). During that time, 87 women did the same. Every day, the court gets 8-9 such applications. Its records show only 3-4 women sought divorce on a daily basis in the corresponding period last year.

Before the new code came into being, there was no legal basis for men to directly file for divorce. Under the old code, men first had to get the recommendation of ward offices, whereupon they could petition with the VDC, DDC or municipalities to have their case filed in a court of law. But women directly petition the courts.

A local of Manmaiju in Kath­mandu, who had gone to Doha for work, was recently at the Kathmandu District Court to file for divorce. According to his application, he had got­ten into a “love marriage” in 2003. The couple then had a daughter, who is now study­ing in class eight. He says he decided to file for divorce because he has ‘concrete evidence’ of his wife’s involve­ment with other men.

Compared to last year, the number of women seeking divorce has also increased. Husbands not fulfilling their wifes’ necessities such as food and clothing, domestic vio­lence, ignoring of wife after going to a foreign country, throwing her out of the house, and extra-marital affair are some cited reasons for filing for divorce. There are also cases of fake court marriages done solely for the purpose of going abroad.

Because of the high popu­lation density in Kathmandu, more divorce cases are reg­istered here compared to other districts. “There is no one reason for divorce”, says Tika Singh Khatri, an offi­cial at the case registration department at the KDC. “But in Kathmandu more men than women are filing for divorce.”

If husband and wife both agree to divorce each other, then there is provision to do so under Article 93. Under article 94, if the wife stays away from her husband for three or more years without his permission, does not give her husband food and clothing, keeps him out of the house, gives him mental or physical torture, or has extra-marital affair, a divorce case can be filed against her.

After an application is filed, the court tries to make peace between husband and wife. If they still want to divorce, then, according to the law, property is distributed and the two go separate ways.

But women’s rights activist Meera Kumari Dhungana says the changed law has loopholes that could allow men not to give anything to their wives. “If men now file for divorce, they can now easily get rid of their old wives and get new ones,” Dhungana says.

In the Nepali context, the new Civil Code could further entrench old discriminations against women, she fears.

But, she adds, “a lot also depends on how our courts interpret the new law.”