Court annuls Prashant's marriage

Apr 30, 2009 IANS

Chennai, April 30 (IANS) A family court here Thursday annulled the marriage of Tamil film star Prashant and his polyandrous wife and granted custody of their daughter to the latter.

A family court annulled the marriage between Prashant and his estranged wife Gruhalakshmi following allegations of polyandry on her part.

The court, however, turned down a plea from Prashant for custody of their child saying the actor had no locus standi to seek the offspring from a marriage that has been annulled.

Gruhalakshmi had sued for divorce alleging dowry harassment.

Actor Prashant had wed Gruhalakshmi amidst great fanfare in 2005. The divorce petition began soon during the pregnancy on charges of dowry harassment.

Prashant denied the charges saying his in-laws were attempting to hide their daughter's earlier marriage.

Meanwhile, a divorce petition filed by another man whose 1998 marriage with Gruhalakshmi has been established in court is pending.

In a career spanning over 18 years, Prashant has been featured as a leading man in 40 films so far that include "Jeans" (1998) an Indian entry to the Oscars in which his female co-star was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.