Shocking Stat – Hyd Ranks 2nd for Extramarital Affairs

Extramarital affairs are on the rise in the country. After adultery has been declared not a crime in India, infidelity has increased.

According to extramarital app Gleeden’s Infidelity Study 2025, Bengaluru continued to be the leading city in extra-marital affairs in India, with 18% of the app users seeking relationships outside of marriage, as of March 2026. The city accounts for 18% per cent of Gleeden India users, mostly 30-45 year-old professionals. The study surveyed 1,510 people in the age group of 18-60 years across 12 cities.

Bengaluru is followed by Hyderabad with 17% users, Delhi 11%, Mumbai 9% and Pune 7% of users. While 65 per cent of app users are men, 35 per cent are women and many of them are from affluent finance, engineering, law, or entrepreneurial backgrounds.

The app’s country manager Sybil Shiddell says emotional dissatisfaction is the main factor driving married individuals to join their platform. Many are seeking emotional rather than physical companionship. “In Bengaluru, over 29 per cent admitted to flirting on social media platforms, while 53% reported some form of infidelity, 7 per cent physical, 12 per cent emotional and 34 per cent seeking both,” he added.

The dating crossed a major milestone of registering 4 million users in India, highlighting the change in relationship dynamics in urban areas.

As the relationships on the app are mostly hidden from the closed ones, Gleeden calls itself a ‘discreet’ app. Another significant trend observed on the app — there is a surge in women joining the platform, female participation has risen 148% in the last two years.

Loneliness, Emotional Void

Psychologists say extra-marital affairs are majorly driven by loneliness. The partners in an affair often seek to fill an emotional void, some unmet need, or compensate for mismatched compatibility. Work places, social media platforms, or dating apps come handy to these individuals.

The app’s study also found that on an average, Indian users are spending around one to one-and-a-half hours on the platform.

Another global app offering extramarital connections, Ashley Madison, revealed that Kanchipuram, known for temples and silk sarees, emerged as the country’s hotspot for affairs, according to its study in June 2025.