Delhi: Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan has been granted a divorce by a Delhi court on the grounds of cruelty by his estranged wife, Aesha Mukerji. The couple, who tied the knot in 2012 have a 10-year-old son named Zoraver Dhawan. Both Aesha and Zoraver are Australian citizens. Aesha Mukerji had been previously married and has two daughters from her first marriage.
According to the report, Delhi Family Court judge Harish Kumar accepted all the allegations made by Shikhar Dhawan in his divorce plea against his wife. This decision was based on the fact that Aesha either did not contest the allegations or failed to defend herself in court. The court’s judgment cited that Dhawan was subjected to mental agony by his wife who forced him into being in a “long-distance marriage” by living in Australia and keeping him away from his son for years.
The court granted visitation rights to Dhawan, allowing him to spend an appropriate time with his son in both India and Australia. Dhawan was also permitted to have video calls with his son. It also ordered Aesha to bring their son to India for visitation purposes including an overnight stay with Mr Dhawan and his family and during the school holidays. However, the court did not issue a permanent custody order for their son.
In its order, the court highlighted “Since the petitioner is a reputed International Cricketer and has been a pride of the nation, subject to the petitioner approaching the Union Government of India, it is requested to take up the issue of visitation/custody of the minor son with its counterpart in Australia to help him have regular visitation or chatting with his son or his permanent custody,” the court said in its order.
The court acknowledged that Dhawan had endured significant emotional distress due to his separation from his son, despite Aesha’s denial of the allegations. “He (Dhawan) for no fault of his own had been through immense agony and anguish of living separately from his son for years. Even though the wife denied the allegation, submitting that though she genuinely wanted to live in India with him, however, due to her commitment towards her daughters from her previous marriage requiring her to stay in Australia, she could not come to live in India and that he was well aware of her commitment, yet she did not choose to contest the claim,” the judge said in the order.
Forced to sell properties and pay child support
Additionally, Dhawan alleged that Aesha forced him to make her the majority owner of three properties he had purchased in Australia. She held 99 per cent ownership in one property and was a joint owner of the other two. The court also upheld Dhawan’s claims that Aesha compelled him to provide child support not only for their son but also for her two daughters, for whom she already received support payments from her first husband.
