Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan was granted divorce by a Delhi court on Wednesday due to cruelty by his wife, Ayesha Mukerji.
According to the court ruling, Ayesha caused Dhawan emotional anguish by forcing him to live apart from his sole son for years.
Judge Harish Kumar of a Delhi family court accepted all of the claims made by the sportsman in his divorce petition against his wife on the grounds that she either did not challenge or failed to defend herself.
However, the court refused to issue a permanent custody order for the couple’s son.
The judge gave Dhawan visiting privileges to meet his son in India and Australia for a suitable period of time.
Dhawan was also permitted to communicate with his son via video call.
The Court’s Verdict
“Since petitioner is a reputed International Cricketer and has been pride of the nation, subject to 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 own son or his permanent custody,” the court said in its order.
“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, 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.
No Order on Permanent Custody of Son
However, the court refused to pass any order on permanent custody of Dhawan and estranged wife’s son.
The court also granted Dhawan the right to visit his son and interact with him over video calls for a reasonable period in India and in Australia where Ayesha Mukerji lives.
The court ordered Dhawan’s wife Ayesha to bring the child to India for visitation purposes, including overnight stays with Dhawan and his family members for at least half of the school holidays during the academic year.
