More than 5,000 divorce cases reported in Sarawak during MCO - Siti Zailah

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

Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Datuk 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 also said throughout 2020 until July, the ministry 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 Dewan Rakyat today.

Alice wanted to know the statistics on divorces during the MCO period.

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

"Misunderstanding, drug addiction, 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 included 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 added that five premises have been gazetted in Sarawak out of 39 nationwide.

-- BERNAMA