Ex-husband hid his fortune and left her with $361K. She became a lawyer and won $8.85M 23 years later
Two decades later, justice was finally served for Varsha Gohil
The UK's longest-running divorce case has finally come to a close. Varsha Gohil filed for divorce from her husband, Bhadresh Gohil, in May 2002, and received a total of $362K and their Peugeot car. However, more than two decades later, Varsha finally got what she and her three children deserved. After divorcing her husband, she retrained as a lawyer and later reopened the case. She received a whopping $8.86 million from her ex-husband, who had hidden a significant amount of his assets from her during the initial divorce, reported The Sun UK. Varsha was also interviewed by This Morning (@thismorning), and the clip has reached 1.1 million views, 25,900 likes, and 884 comments.
Shocking revelations
Varsha found out about her husband's infidelity while going through his computer. She was stunned to see he had been living a "double life" for two years. She did not tell him what she discovered, but was planning her next move. They attended a party when he made an unusual comment, "Oh, I'm richer than anyone, wealthier than anyone in this room. I'm worth £10 million." She was shocked by his confession. However, when she filed for divorce, he pleaded that he did not have much money or assets, and she settled for £270,000 ($362K). But she suspected he had hidden assets. Determined to provide for her children, Varsha trained as a lawyer and became financially independent.
Case closed after two decades
By 2007, Varsha reopened the case. As per UK law, the parties involved must clearly state all their assets and income, which she believed Bhadresh was hiding. In 2011, 61-year-old Bhadresh was convicted of forgery and money laundering. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) stepped in and froze £28 million ($376K) worth of his assets, and the Gohils' divorce case reached the Supreme Court. In the end, Judge Justice Williams ruled that the £28 million worth of assets could not be proven as proceeds of crime. But Varsha will be given the £6.6 million from Bhadresh's legitimate businesses during their marriage.
Gender in divorce courts
A 2015 survey from FindLaw.com found that the majority of American men (57%) believe that divorce courts tend to favor women. However, 58% of women believe that divorce courts do not favor either gender. Out of all the divorced respondents, 74% men think that divorce courts do favor women. Additionally, in the U.S., at least 70% women are more likely to initiate divorce.
The number stood at 62% for women in England and Wales in 2019. Heidi Kar, a domestic violence expert and psychologist at the US Education Development Center, explained, "Across cultures and geographies, women who are economically able to take care of themselves… are more likely to initiate divorce." In the case of Varsha, she initiated the divorce because her husband cheated on her. She won the case not because the judge favored women, but because her husband was involved in criminal activities and hid his assets from her.
People were aware of Gohil's long-running divorce case with her husband, and they were happy she finally got what she deserved. @saidbykim commented, "Varsha is a masterclass in resilience." @kayla21 added, "She’s so eloquent. She knew she had to provide for her kids, and that was her motivation. Glad she straightened that point out so the focus wasn’t falsely on her [being] a money grabber. Well done."
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