Bobby Darling files for divorce; husband says marriage illegal due to her sex change

Bigg Boss contestant 1 contestant and actress Bobby Darling has filed for divorce from husband Ramnik Sharma, after a domestic violence case against him in 2017. Bobby Darling, who was seen in some television shows and films and was a contestant on the first season of the reality show Bigg Boss, had since undergone a sex change and got married to her boyfriend Ramnik Sharma in February 2016 in Bhopal.

However, the marriage turned bitter after Bobby, who had changed her name to Pakhi from her original Pankaj, filed a domestic violence case against Ramnik in Delhi. She also alleged unnatural sex in the marriage. Ramnik on his part had said that Bobby lied to him that she would be able to conceive after her sex reassignment surgery.

The Times of India reports that Bobby Darling has now sought dissolution of her marriage in the Bandra family court. She also seeks alimony of Rs 2 crore from her husband and cancellation of a 2016 gift deed for a flat in Oshiwara, Mumbai. Through her lawyer Bhavana Jadhav, Bobby has also filed a plea for ownership of a Bhopal property that she alleges she had bought with her money in joint names "under pressure and misrepresentation."

Bobby Darling also revealed that her married life was "faker than the movies, as the outside world believed her to be happy, while internally she felt a sense of nothingness". She has sought a temporary injunction so that no third party interest is created on the disputed properties.

Ramnik Sharma has questioned the legality of his marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA), as Bobby was born a male but got married to him after gender reassignment surgery.

Her husband's lawyers G J Ramchandani and Hitesh Ramchandani claim that the marriage is void under the HMA. "In the entire Domestic Violence Act, HMA, IPC (Indian Penal Code) or other laws, nowhere has it been presumed that if a male gets his genitals changed then he would be treated as (a) woman".

"In the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the word 'marriage' is nowhere defined but Section 5 (iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, mentions that the marriage should be between the bridegroom and the bride. The bridegroom means a male who is by brith a male and the bride means a female who is by birth a female. In the present case, the petitioner was not a female by birth."

In 2017, Bobby Darling had revealed her problems with her husband to the media, saying, "Ramnik would beat me up after getting drunk and accuse me of having extramarital affairs with every second man. He also usurped my property and money. He made me give him co-ownership of my flat in Mumbai, and did the same when we bought our penthouse in Bhopal. He also bought an SUV using my money immediately after the marriage. Now, I am left with nothing. He had paid the building's security guards to keep an eye on me, and they would inform him of all my moves. He kept a tab on who I spoke with and where I went."

"Tired of the constant bickering, I suggested that we get divorced with mutual consent, but on the condition that I would get my property and the car back. However, he didn't agree to it. He would, in fact, beat me to because the will is in his name. I want my property back so that I can sell it off and move back to Mumbai," claimed Bobby.

Ramnik had then told Bombay Times his side of the story. He'd said, "Bobby is lying blatantly. She is the one who fled with my property papers, money and gold, and I have filed an FIR against her. She was after my money. I have never hit her. In fact, I went against my entire family to marry her. She lied to me that she'll be able to conceive, but after learning that she won't be able to, I requested her to either try IVF or adopt a baby. But she didn't want to take the responsibility of raising a child."