Actor-entreprenur Arvind Swamy and his wife Gayathri have filed a petition in a family court in Chennai for divorce by mutual consent on Tuesday, seeking to end the 16-year old marriage.

When the petition came up before Principal family court judge Ramalingam, he granted the couple the mandatory six-month separation period and adjourned further hearing of the case to December 1, 2010.

The ‘Dhalapathi’ and ‘Roja’ actor married Gayathri in 1994 and the couple has two children. Though the earlier petitions filed by Arvind Samy are already pending before the court, the couple preferred a fresh application on Tuesday with mutual consent.

Meanwhile, actress Vindhya and her husband Gopi also appeared before a family court in connection with a divorce case on Tuesday. Gopi and Vindhya were married in 2008, but have been living separately for a while.

Gopi, brother of Banupriya, filed a petition seeking divorce last year, while Vindhya filed a petition seeking restoration of her conjugal rights. When the petitions came up for hearing on Tuesday, the couple appeared in person and participated in counseling