Ajay Mafatlal, Earliest Case of Sex Change, Passes Away at 60

One of the earliest people to undergo sex change in India, Ajay Mafatlal, passed away in Mumbai.

Ajay Mafatlal. (Photo Courtesy: Mid-Day)

One of the earliest few to undergo a sex change operation, businessman Ajay Mafatlal (60) of the Yogindra Mafatlal Group passed away on Saturday afternoon due to cardio-respiratory failure, according to sources, at the Breach Candy Hospital.

He was admitted to the Cumballa Hill Hospital on July 30 for urinary tract and lung infections.

He soon developed sepsis, following which he was shifted to the Breach Candy hospital.

According to a report in Mid-day, he was in the surgical intensive care unit for a week.

Ajay’s funeral, attended by family and close friends, was held at the Banganga cremation grounds, where his mother Madhuri Mafatlal was put to rest, on Sunday evening.

Ajay always maintained that he wanted to live like a man as he never felt like a woman.

Life After Sex Change

In November 2003, Ajay Mafatlal – then Aparna Mafatlal – underwent a sex change surgery at the age of 46.

Aparna married Mafatlal family friend Sudeep Parikh, who runs a yarn production business, in November 1979.

They got divorced in 1984.

Ajay (then Aparna) started his own business venture called ‘Megabyte’ with theatre personality, Jai Kunder, in the late 1990s.

Following the divorce, Ajay began to live with Jai. But the business did not survive and neither did the relationship.

Family Dispute

Eldest of the five children, Ajay – earlier named Aparna – has three sisters, Kunti Shah, Gayatri Jhaveri and Malvika Taktawala, and a brother Athulya.

After the death of the patriarch Yogindra Mafatlal over a decade ago, a family feud between Ajay and Athulya led to separation of the family.

Madhuri Mafatlal declared Ajay as her only son a few months before she passed away in July 2013.

Atulya Mafatlal wife. (Photo: YouTube)

Athulya Mafatlal’s wife had filed harassment charges against Ajay and his mother.