Mumbai: Shattered over the recent massacre where a mentally unstable gunman killed 49 people in a nightclub in Orlando, former ICC President N Srinivasan’s son Ashwin and his gay partner Avi Mukherjee have restarted efforts for freedom after facing house arrest and torture by Srini.
"Just like the Orlando killer Omar Mateen, my father N Srinivasan too is wracked with guilt over his own gay past. He is transfer-projecting that on us and hence his homophobia takes on a rarely seen venality," Ashwin was quoted as saying, according to a report in ‘dna’.
Earlier, Ashwin had alleged that his father used a cycle of violence against him and Avi to ‘cure’ them of homosexuality.
Ashwin revealed the connections of his brother-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan (Team Principal of IPL cricket franchise Chennai Super Kings, who was charged in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case) with well-known bookies from Chennai and Dubai on May 24, 2014.
Srini’s son alleged his mother Chitra and father worked in tandem with the doctor to ensure heroin was administered to the gay couple.
"Later, they reduced the drug intake and made it irregular. Avi and I started experiencing heightened stress and hypersensitivity, sleeplessness, anxiety, couldn't even hold on to a thought for longer than a minute. Dr Khanna, who we were seeing, wouldn't let us on to why this was happening and we finally looked it up on the net to find that we were suffering from Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome," Ashwin added.
Chitra then told the couple to undergo detox. "Because she promised we'll be allowed to move to the country of our choice without any interference from the family in two months when we were completely out of rehab, we agreed to go and were flown down to Chennai in August 2014."
The couple were first shifted to a serviced apartment, Absolute Home in Kotturpuram. "My mother said they were on the lookout for another place for us near our family home. She told us that taking us back to our family home will lead to embarrassment in front of the servants."
Then again in September, they were shifted to an apartment owned by Arun Murugappa. "We're being held captive against our will and tortured by my father who wants me to break up with Avi, get married and have children to further the family line.
“Two months have now become two years, we've been given death threats and fear for our lives. Our passports and other documents of identity have all been taken away and we've been told not to step out," he said.
Avi too addressed the problem they were facing. "Ashwin's parents are well-connected dollar billionaires. We have found efforts by us to reach out to authorities in Chennai and Delhi have all been frustrated by them. Forget legal help, even doctors have refused to treat us."
According to Avi, he is still recuperating from a broken clavicle and pain in the foot from April 30, 2012, when police picked by the couple from a Bandra restaurant in Mumbai and beat them with iron rods and sticks.
Neither Srinivasan nor his wife, who are currently in New York, according to the report, were available for comment.
Ashwin and Avi have now sought help from the world's largest coalition of NGOs fighting against many social issues. "We're hoping that they will be able to intervene and help us out of our predicament."
