Earlier, Yukta had rejected the idea of a court-assisted settlement and had demanded a police inquiry against Prince for dowry harassment and unnatural sex - charges he denies.
She is ready to end the marriage through mediation, but her estranged Nagpur-based husband has apparently refused to accept her consent terms. An officer with the Bandra police said that she had requested them to bring Prince back to the mediation process. Yukta, however, disclosed that she had not sought their help. The bitter row is now expected to be heard by the Bombay High Court next week, on November 19.
Yukta, who was crowned Miss World in 1999, married Prince in November 2008. They, however, grew apart, and last year she filed a non-cognisable complaint against him for alleged harassment and abuse. In May this year, Prince filed for divorce, but the matter came to a head two months later when Yukta alleged that she had faced years of mental and physical abuse. She filed a complaint of dowry harassment and unnatural sex against him at the Amboli police station, forcing Prince and his family members to seek anticipatory bail. A month ago, a high court judge summoned the couple to her chambers and asked them to consider splitting amicably.
Initially, they refused to pursue a mutual settlement, but later requested the court to appoint a mediator. Those efforts have now hit a hurdle with Prince refusing to accept any consent terms laid down by Yukta.
"All the allegations Yukta has levelled against Prince have fallen flat. She could not prove anything," a close friend of Prince said. "Prince has all the evidence and will expose her."
In an interview this August, Prince had rejected the charges of domestic abuse, and instead suggested that Yukta had cheated on him. When contacted Prince, he refused to comment. "The matter is sub judice." Yukta initially did not respond to calls and messages, but later said that she had not approached the Bandra police.
