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 It is one of the most spectacular break-ups yet seen, even by the combustible standards of the fashion industry.
Terrified of losing not just his wife, but his child too, Sterry says the adrenaline-fuelled fantasy land of international modelling has changed Ujjwala beyond all recognition.
She, in turn, has accused him of threatening behaviour.
Indeed, following her complaints to the authorities in India, where they lived, Sterry found himself deported with just 72 hours notice and only a suitcase full of clothes.
On petitioning for divorce, she claimed he was, parasitically, living off her substantial earnings. Allegations he flatly denies, of course.
The legal row switches ceaselessly from Goa to New York and back again. Whoever is right  -  and, for the moment, 28-year-old Ujjwala is not giving her side of the story  -  it says little for the fashion industry and its mores, which have, for the time being at least, left a five-year-old girl without a father.
Sterry, a friend of Madonna's film director ex-husband Guy Ritchie, was himself working as a model when he met Ujjwala in Paris in 2001.
What followed, he acknowledges, was something of a cliche: 'She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was very tranquil, peaceful and soft. She was 21. I was 16 years older.'
Realising that Ujjwala had a successful career ahead of her, Sterry says he decided to devote himself to helping her become a top model, accompanying her to castings.
The pair moved to New York, where she could undertake even better-paid work, and in 2002 they married. Then, when Ksha arrived, he looked after her, while his wife worked  -  earning nearly £10,000 a day. It was three years later that the first cracks in the marriage started to appear.
'My wife is very impatient,' says Sterry. 'She has an Indian mentality where she expects her husband to go out with a briefcase each morning.
'I couldn't do that, because I didn't have a work permit in New York. So I built our house in Goa and looked after Ksha, but that didn't seem enough for her.'
Today, according to Sterry, the Goan house is protected by four guards to stop him gaining access.
'I lived in India but flew back to the United States every few months so that Ujjwala could spend time with Ksha. Our relationship was put under strain because I didn't have work, but I thought we would get through it. Sterry wants it understood that throughout this period he was working hard on his own endeavours, barring a few short months after the birth. 'I started my own business in India, and I was also working on a new movie, but unfortunately it didn't get made,' he says.
Meanwhile, Ksha was growing up playing with the village children in Goa, 'a happy, happy child', despite her parents' rather eccentric living arrangements.
Perhaps inevitably, says Sterry, the adulation began to have its effect. Ujjwala became more distant. He believes that she was pursued by wealthy individuals, including one worth £300 million, although there is no evidence of any improper behaviour on her part.
'Even so, I thought that we had a good relationship, that we were still in love. But then the proverbial s*** hit the fan.'
At the end of 2009, his wife returned to Goa.
'She was very aggressive, nasty and rude,' he says. 'She was swearing, and suggested that I was a poor father. A row escalated, and she grabbed me round the neck,' he says. 'I pushed her away. She was wearing stilettos, and fell backwards.'
He called the police, and was initially put in jail for assault.
His wife has initiated divorce proceedings and Sterry says he has not seen his young daughter since: 'You cannot believe the pain.
'I brought her up. I nursed her and raised her. We were so close. It has broken my heart to be apart from my daughter.'
He blames the fashion world for turning his wife's head and is concerned that, with drugs widely taken, it is a world that presents potential dangers for the mother of his child  -  although there is no suggestion that Ujjwala has ever been tempted to take drugs herself.
'I worked on Kate Moss's very first job in Italy. She was a demure little girl who couldn't say a word,' says Sterry.
'Look at her now. This business changes people. When you are in demand, you are sought after, everyone tells you are fantastic, it boosts your ego.
'You turn into a supermodel, and look at Naomi Campbell  -  they are not grounded people.'
He feels Ujjwala became increasingly diva-like.
'When I met my wife, she was sweet and demure. I believe she's become egotistical and self-centred. The fashion world has turned her into something of a monster.'
He says she began to fall out with close friends, convinced that people only wanted to be with her because of her fame.
Sterry blames the justice system in India for preventing him from having access to Ksha, who is now aged five.
He has neither seen nor spoken to his daughter for two years, and because he is unable to get a visa to go to India, he cannot attend court hearings to regain access to her.
'It is a desperate situation,' he says. 'I just don't know what to do, but I know that I can't stop fighting to see Ksha.
'I am being persecuted by a government. My wife goes to powerful politicians and says, "My husband is a nasty person, can you throw him out of the country?' And they say, "Oh yes, madam."'
Sterry states that he still loves his wife. 'If she said, "I made a mistake," I would accept her back, even though she has done some really nasty things.'
'Her judgements have been wrong, but she is not inherently bad.'
For her part, Ujjwala has flatly denied both her husband's claims of assault and the allegation that she has influenced the deportation proceedings in an improper way.
She has said: 'If Maxwell is alleging abuse and intimidation, why is he not resorting to court procedures, which is how things should be?
'This matter is sub judice. I don't wish to comment on it. When the time comes, I myself will make an announcement


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