Ex-girlfriend of former NY AG and #MeToo activist Eric Schneiderman claims he threatened to kill her if she broke up with him in new memoir detailing his 'sexual abuse'
Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's ex-girlfriend, one of at least four women to accuse him of sexual abuse, has claimed that he threatened to kill her if she broke things off with him.
Tanya Selvaratnam, who dated Schneiderman for about a year beginning in early 2017, made the bombshell allegation in her new memoir, Assume Nothing: A Story of Intimate Violence.
In the book, out Tuesday, Selvaratnam recounted Schneiderman's alleged abuse in chilling detail, describing how he would call her his 'brown slave' and slap her during sex.
She also revealed that she decided to speak publicly about the abuse in 2018 after learning he'd allegedly hurt other women as well.
'I was scared to come forward because he had told me he could have me followed. He could have my phone tapped,' Selvaratnam wrote in an excerpt of the book released ahead of its publication on Tuesday.
'On some occasions, he said if we broke up he would have to kill me.
'But when I found out that I was not the first woman he had abused, and realized that I would not be the last, I knew that I had to come forward.'
Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's ex-girlfriend Tanya Selvaratnam, one of at least four women to accuse him of sexual abuse, claimed that he threatened to kill her if she broke things off with him in her new memoir. Schneiderman and Selvaratnam are pictured together at an event in Manhattan in April 2017
Selvaratnam, who dated Schneiderman for about a year beginning in early 2017, described his alleged abuse in chilling detail in her new memoir
Selvaratnam was one of four women who came forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Schneiderman in an article for the New Yorker in May 2018.
Schneiderman, 66, abruptly resigned as attorney general mere hours after the article was published.
He denied the allegations at the time, telling the New Yorker: 'In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity.
'I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in non-consensual sex, which is a line I would not cross.'
DailyMail.com was unable to reach Schneiderman prior to the publication of this story.
Schneiderman (pictured in January 2018) abruptly resigned as attorney general mere hours after the New Yorker published an article with abuse allegations from four women in May 2018
In the excerpt of her book, Selvaratnam explained how Schneiderman was perceived by the public as a champion of social justice when they started seeing each other in 2017.
'He was the Attorney General of New York State, and was getting national recognition as a progressive hero and a key ally of the Me Too movement,' she wrote.
Months before he left office, Schneiderman filed a lawsuit aimed at securing better compensation for movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct accusers.
Given that effort, Selvaratnam said she was surprised to learn that Schneiderman was actually friends with Weinstein, she wrote.
She said she was captivated by Schneiderman's ambition, charm and charisma - until she began to see a darker side of him.
Sevalratnam described her ex-boyfriend as an alcoholic who regularly abused sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medications.
She claimed that she would often find him 'staggering around the apartment' in a drunken haze.
On one particularly bad night in January 2017, Sevalratnam said Schneiderman fell in the bathroom and injured his face to the point that he needed stitches. She said he then instructed her to tell people that he'd fallen while jogging.
Sevalratnam described her ex-boyfriend as an alcoholic who regularly abused sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medications. Pictured: Sevalratnam, Schneiderman and Dana Brown (right) at the 4th Annual Turtle Ball in New York City on April 17, 2017
Sevalratnam said she endured the abuse for so long because she was petrified that Schneiderman and 'his people' would try to 'crush' her if she spoke out
Sevalratnam alleged that Schneiderman subjected her to extreme physical and verbal violence when they had sex.
She recalled how he allegedly choked, slapped and spit at her in bed while demanding that he call her 'Master' or 'Daddy'.
She said the first time Schneiderman slapped her for the first time during sex after they'd been dating for six weeks, adding: 'Over time, the slaps got harder and began to be accompanied by demands.'
He allegedly ordered her to find him a 'young girl' for a three-way, and would hit her until she agreed to look for one.
Sevalratnam said she endured the abuse for so long because she was petrified that Schneiderman and 'his people' would try to 'crush' her if she spoke out.
Selvaratnam's book Assume Nothing: A Story Of Intimate Violence will be released Tuesday
She finally found the strength to leave the relationship with help from a domestic violence victim advocate, and saw her book as an opportunity to process what she'd gone through.
'Writing 'Assume Nothing' was painful and emotional, but it was also liberating,' she wrote.
'I wrote my way out of the darkness. A victim looks like all of us. Even fierce women get abused.'
Schneiderman has kept a low profile since resigning in disgrace. In November, a special prosecutor appointed to review the allegations against him announced that he would not face criminal charges.
In a statement after the investigator concluded, Schneiderman said: 'I accept full responsibility for my conduct in my relationships with my accusers, and for the impact it had on them.'
In January of last year reports claimed that he had been certified as a meditation teacher at The Path school in Manhattan.
At the time, a rep for Schneiderman told the New York Post that he turned to meditation and therapy 'as part of his recovery program'.
It came as records revealed that Schneiderman used nearly $340,000 in political campaign funds to pay his for legal bills after being accused of sexual abuse.
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