Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan granted divorce from Aesha Mukerji

The court upheld his allegations of mental cruelty.

A Delhi court on Wednesday granted cricket Shikhar Dhawan divorce from Aesha Mukerji, his estranged wife, on grounds of mental cruelty.

The Delhi court judge accepted all of Dhawan's claims made in the petition since Mukherji neither contested the allegations nor defended herself against them.

The court also acknowledged Dhawan's mental agony at being forced to live separately from his only son for an extended period of time.

While the court did not pass judgement on permanent custody of the child, it did allow Dhawan visitation rights to spend time with his son in India as well as Australia, while also allowing video calls between the two.

The court further ordered Mukherji to facilitate the child's visit to India, as well as his overnight stays with Dhawan and the cricketer's family, during at least half of the school vacation period in an academic calendar.

The court also took cognisance of Dhawan's stature as a renowned cricketer, and asked him to approach the Union government when seeking assistance to address custody or visitation matters regarding his son, especially involving his counterpart in Australia.

Mukherji was also reprimanded by the court for objecting to bringing the child to India.

Earlier, the court had decided that a mother would not have exclusive rights over a child. Dhawan and Mukerji had started legal proceedings in Australia and India regarding their divorce and the custody of their son.

(With IANS inputs)