A Whatsapp App Page Is Seen On Facebook On A Samsung Galaxy S4 Phone
A Whatsapp App page is seen on Facebook on a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, February 20, 2014. Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock in a landmark deal that places the world's largest social network closer to the heart of mobile communications and may bring younger users into the fold. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

One of the most famous and widely-used WhatsApp messaging app is back in news reminding users of a worrisome trend. The Facebook-owned app has been the centre of attention for a recent divorce triggered because of a wife ignoring her husband's WhatsApp messages.

A Saudi Arabian man sent his wife several messages via WhatsApp. He figured that his wife had read his messages. However, she chose to ignore the content or did not bother to reply back. As a last resort, he filed for a divorce. Apparently, the wife in focus was using her smartphone round-the-clock to make phone calls to her friends and family. This routine continued to a great extent that she started ignoring their kid and their home, according to Phone Arena.

Thanks to the recent introduction of the feature "read receipts" in WhatsApp, the husband figured out that his messages were being read. Despite this, there was no reply from his wife. For those uninitiated, the read receipt update in WhatsApp lets the sender know that the sent-message was read by the recipient by showing "two blue tick marks" right next to the sent-message. In the estranged husband's own words, "I sent her messages on Whatsapp and knew she had read them because of the latest update on the application but still she didn't answer or acknowledged messages."

It is worth noting that, a survey carried out by an online legal services company named Divorce Online noted that one-third plus divorces in the UK, filed in 2014 cited Facebook as the reason. On the other hand, the president of the Italian Association of Matrimonial Lawyers named Gian Ettore Gassani stated that intimate messages with strangers on WhatsApp have contributed to the surge in divorce rates pertaining to Italy, says NDTV. In his own words, "Forty percent of divorce cases that cited adultery have used WhatsApp messages swapped by unfaithful spouses and their lovers as evidence."

He further added that, all forms of social media and networking sites are the main cause for the worrisome trend of betrayal in Italy. Owing to the fact that, it is easier to betray via texting, Facebook and the recent addition being WhatsApp. He also stated that, WhatsApp users exchange intimate photos and there are examples of users maintaining multiple relationships simultaneously. Notably, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in Italy and a total of 88 percent of messaging users are WhatsApp users, says a survey conducted way back in 2012, picked up by NDTV.

Gian concluded by stating a strong point, "The family here is the cornerstone of society, but it has been under attack for years and WhatsApp is the final straw." What do you think of WhatsApp's involvement in such cases? Feel free to leave a comment.

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