Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan was granted a divorce on Wednesday by a Delhi Court on grounds of ‘cruelty’ inflicted by his estranged wife Aesha Mukherjee, a Melbourne-based kickboxer.
According to reports, Patiala House Court in Delhi observed that the cricketer was subjected to mental agony by his wife as she forced him into being in a ‘long distance marriage’ by living in Australia and keeping him away from his son for years.
The court said, “He (Dhawan) for no fault of his own had been through immense agony and anguish of living separately from his own son for years. Even though the wife denied the allegation, submitting that though she genuinely wanted to live in India with him, yet she did not choose to contest the claim. The respondent, by conducting herself in the manner, has inflicted such cruelty, agony and trauma on him, that it was impossible for the petitioner to save the marriage.”
In his petition, Dhawan alleged that his wife forced him to make her owner of the three properties he owned in Australia of which she owned 99 percent in one property while being a joint owner in the other two.
The court said, “The respondent was required to prove that properties were purchased out of her fund as well or her name was included out of love and affection. Thus, Dhawan’s allegation that she compelled him to make her owner to some extent in all three properties or that she pocketed sale proceeds thereof has got to be believed as true.”
Notably, Dhawan tied the knot with Aesha Mukherjee in 2012 and has a 10-year-old son, Zoraver Dhawan with her. Both the mother and son are Australian citizens. Aesha was previously married and has two daughters with her first husband.
In the petition filed in the court, Dhawan claimed that Aesha promised him to move to India to live with him after marriage, however, soon after, she backtracked and refused to move citing that it would force her to give up custody of her two daughters to her ex-husband.
