On Wednesday, a Delhi court granted Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan a divorce from his wife, Aesha Dhawan, on the grounds of cruelty inflicted by his spouse. The couple, married in 2012, shares a 10-year-old son.
As reported by NDTV, the family court judge upheld Mr. Dhawan’s allegations of “mental torture” inflicted by his wife, which she could not disprove. The divorce petition detailed multiple instances where Dhawan had suffered, enduring mental anguish after being denied the opportunity to visit his son.
The petition recounted how Aesha had initially promised to move to India to support Dhawan’s cricketing career after he was unable to relocate to Australia. However, it disclosed that Aesha reneged on that commitment, citing that she would have to relinquish custody of her children.
“Through no fault of his own, Dhawan has experienced immense agony and anguish from living separately from his own son for years. Even though the wife denied the allegations, claiming she genuinely wanted to live in India with him, she chose not to contest the claim. The respondent, through her actions, has inflicted such cruelty, agony, and trauma on him that it became impossible for the petitioner to save the marriage,” the court statement explained.
Another instance cited in the petition was how Aesha had coerced the cricketer into making her the owner of three properties he had purchased in Australia, with complete ownership of one home and joint custody of the other two. She had not contributed her own funds to the property purchases, resulting in Dhawan paying child support not only for their son but also for her two daughters from a previous marriage, for whom she was already receiving support payments from her first husband.
“The respondent was required to prove that the properties were purchased with her funds or that her name was included out of love and affection. Thus, Dhawan’s allegation that she compelled him to make her a partial owner of all three properties or that she pocketed the sale proceeds thereof must be considered true,” it added.
The court granted Dhawan mandatory visitation rights to meet his son in both India and Australia and ordered Aesha to return their child to India.
