‘All my dreams were shattered’
MUMBAI: In 1992, Tony, who worked as a counsellor at Salvation Army, a charitable organisation, got a job in Saudi Arabia. After clearing the interview he visited a pathology lab for a medical test, as mandated by his future employer.
“That day, I didn’t know what life had in store for me,” said the 66-year-old. “They asked me to wait. Then a lady walked up to me, told me I was unfit. She said I had AIDS. I blacked out,” said Tony, who lost the job. Tony suspects he contracted the virus during the years when he solicited sex from CSWS at Kamathipura.
Back then, HIV was mostly unheard of and those who knew about the virus thought it was the most dangerous disease, he said.
He recalls the dread of breaking the news to his family and friends. “My dreams were shattered in seconds,” Tony said. Days later, he mustered the courage to tell his brother, who hugged him and said things would get better.
Over the years Tony kept losing weight, fell sick frequently and couldn’t hold on to a job. Twelve years later, Tony started medication. Weakened by the virus and the side effects of the medications, Tony is trying to rebuild his life and is looking for a job. HOUSTON: Sherin Mathews, the 3-year-old Indian girl who was found dead in a culvert after being reported missing by her foster father, had a series of broken bones and injuries in various stages of healing, a doctor testified before the court.
Sherin, reported missing on October 7, was found dead in a culvert about 1 km from her home in suburban Dallas on October 22. Her autopsy report is still awaited. She was adopted by the Indian-american couple, Wesley and Sini Mathews, from an orphanage in India last year. Her adoptive parents lost custody of their biological child after Sherin went missing.
Her parents appeared before a court on Wednesday for a Child Protective Services (CPS) custody hearing about their biological daughter, currently living in the Houston-area.
Wesley was brought to the courthouse in a van. He is expected to either surrender his parental rights for his 3- year-old daughter or have them terminated by the state.
Sini, who aims to regain custody of her biological daughter sought right to visit her. Sini took to the witness stand first, but invoked her fifth amendment right not to incriminate herself many times during questioning. One exception came when she was asked if she is trained a nurse — to which she responded, “yes”.
When Wesley took the stand, he opted to invoke his fifth amendment right as well and answered no questions pertaining to Sherin’s death or disappearance. Prosecution pressed Sini about the previous CPS involvement, alleging Sherin earlier had a broken femur, elbow and tibia, but she did not confirm the allegations.
The prosecution called to the stand a pediatrician and child abuse expert, Susan Dakil of Referral and Evaluation of At Risk Children Clinic, who testified that the injuries were visible in various X-ray scans taken in September 2016 and February 2017. Dakil said the scans suggest the injuries were inflicted after Sherin was adopted from India.