Here’s Why Delhi Court Granted Divorce To Shikhar Dhawan From Estranged Wife Aesha Mukerji

Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan is a left-handed opening batsman who has been a top scorer in many Indian and International tournaments. The Punjab Kings Captain recently made headlines for filing a divorce on the grounds of cruelty by his estranged wife Aesha Mukerji. Shikhar Dhawan married Aesha Mukerji in 2012, they have a son Zoraver Dhawan who is 10 years old. Their 11-year-old marriage came to an end.

Shikhar Dhawan was Aesha’s second husband, she was previously married and has two daughters with her first husband.

On Wednesday, October 4, a Delhi Court granted divorce to cricketer Shikhar Dhawan on grounds of “cruelty” imposed on the cricketer by his estranged wife Aesha Dhawan

Harish Kumar, Family Court Judge in the Patiala House in Delhi accepted Mr Dhawan’s charges against his wife when she was unable to prove the allegations as false. The judge was convinced that Mr. Dhawan went through mental agony because of his wife who forced him into a “long-distance marriage” as she lived in Australia and even kept his son away from him for years. His son Zoraver and his wife Aesha both are Australian citizens. He got the divorce on the grounds of being a victim of mental trauma and suffering.

Here are the reasons why the court granted the divorce:

1. In his petition, Shikhar Dhawan claimed that his wife Aesha had agreed to move to India at the time of marriage but refused later

Initially, she promised to live with him in India as the 37-year-old cricketer was unable to undertake a similar move to Australia due to his career commitments. However, later, she refused to move as moving to India would force her to give up custody of her two daughters to her ex-husband. She also took their son, Zoraver with her, and Dhawan was left to live alone in India.

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”

2. He was “forced” by Aesha to sell properties

She compelled and acquired ownership of Dhawan’s three Australian properties. She owned 99% of one property along with joint ownership of two others. All three properties were purchased by Dhawan with his money.

The court said Aesha failed to prove that she did not force Dhawan to make her an owner of the properties and she also contributed funds towards their purchase. 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”

3. She forced him to pay child support even for her daughters from her previous marriage

Mr. Dhawan was forced to pay child support not only for their son but also for her two daughters for whom she already received support expenses from her ex-husband. Aesha and their son came to India for an extended stay in the year 2020, while her daughters remained in Australia. At that time, Dhawan was forced to send AU $15,500 monthly to her daughters from her previous marriage.

4. His wife, Aesha, deliberately sent defamatory messages about Dhawan to various authorities

She purposely tried to defame Dhawan by sending messages to various authorities in BCCI, owners of the IPL team, and even his fellow cricketers to humiliate Dhawan to ensure she received her monthly maintenance on time.

5. The Court also acknowledged Aesha’s conflict with Dhawan for taking his sick father to the hospital during his COVID-19 infection.

The court’s judgement after granting the divorce

As his wife was unable to produce credible evidence in response to the allegations made against her or didn’t challenge any of those, the court granted mandatory visitation rights to Mr Dhawan to meet his son in India and Australia. However, the court didn’t make a judgement determining the permanent custody of their son.

The court also ordered Aesha to bring their son to India for visitation purposes with his father Mr Dhawan and his family including overnight stay and during the school holidays.

As per the reports, Shikhar Dhawan has gone through a lot.

Meanwhile, Shikhar failed to secure a place in India’s 15-member World Cup squad despite his terrific ODI World Cup record. The opening batter has recorded three centuries and a fifty under his name while playing for the country at World Cups.