Sangeetha Sornalingam, wife of actor and Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay, has filed for divorce, ending their 27-year-old marriage. The couple, who married in August 1999, have two children, Jason Sanjay and Divya Shasha.

The legal proceedings are based on specific provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which allows spouses to seek divorce on grounds such as adultery and cruelty.

• According to the petition, 48-year-old Sangeeta alleged that 51-year-old Vijay was involved in an extramarital affair with a female actor. The petition claimed that Sangeeta learned in 2021 that Vijay was “involved in an adulterous relationship with an actress.”
• The petition further said that despite Vijay’s assurance that the relationship would end, it continued without any sign of remorse.
• The document also states that Vijay not only kept Sangeeta out of his social and professional life, but also “continued to travel abroad with the said actress and attend public events. The actress regularly posted photographs of these outings on social media. The defendant neither denied nor objected to these posts, thereby giving her tacit support.” Sangeeta claimed that due to these posts “she and her children were repeatedly humiliated.”
• Furthermore, the petition also said that Vijay withdrew the facilities already availed by Sangeeta, and “imposed financial restrictions including curbing her free movement.”
• Sangeeta said that Vijay’s “persistent adulterous conduct and repeated social media controversies” in 2024 caused her severe mental torture. He said that their marriage is effectively over and now exists only on paper. According to him, this relationship is unable to be revived and gives him nothing but “mental anguish, humiliation, insult and suffering”.

These details, mentioned under sections 27(1)(a) and 27(1)(d) of the Special Marriage Act, became the core of the grounds for divorce put forward by Sangeeta.

The Special Marriage Act, 1954, allows divorce if a spouse is found to have committed adultery or has treated the other party with cruelty. Both these legal grounds have been cited in the ongoing proceedings in Sangeeta’s petition. The case is currently before the District Court, the outcome of which is yet to be decided.

Sangeeta, the daughter of a Tamil industrialist, was once a devoted fan of Vijay before they married on 25 August 1999. Their wedding was a grand ceremony, celebrated with both Hindu and Christian rituals.