Bengaluru sees surge in extramarital affairs; here’s experts’ warning

Bengaluru: Shriya (name changed), a middle-aged woman who walked into Bengaluru’s Parihar Family Counselling Centre, insisted that she wanted to continue her extramarital affair with a married man despite him deciding to end the relationship.

This attitude of a married woman, has left the counselling experts stunned. Saraswathi, a senior counsellor at the centre, said now more women are into extramarital affairs. Despite counselling, both men and women are unwilling to end their affairs.

"The social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and even few websites have cropped up these days offering such services. A woman who has a family and child met a married man and they were going strong for few months until the man pulled out. Now she wants to continue the relationship despite counselling," said a senior counsellor from Parihar which has so far registered 179 cases of extramarital out of 1,123 that come for counselling.

Earlier, the centre used to get complaints like dowry harassment, wife beating, cheating for money, these days extramarital affairs have increased.

"Working conditions, incompatibility and misunderstanding are the leading causes for such affairs," said Saraswathi.

Dr Chandrashekhar, head of department of psychiatry at Victoria Hospital, said, such websites that promote extramarital affairs do not have any legal binding and are there for commercial purposes. "This extramarital will only end in trouble and in some cases, it will end in suicide," he said.