Prasanna Sankar, co-founder of the multi-billion dollar HR software startup Rippling, has accused the Chennai police of harassment over what he claims to be a false child abduction case. In a detailed thread on X (formerly Twitter), he shared how a personal crisis stemming from his wife’s alleged infidelity escalated into serious legal battles, including accusations of domestic violence and extortion.
Sankar, an NIT Trichy graduate, stated that he was married to his wife, Dhivya, for a decade, and the couple shares a nine-year-old son. Having moved to the US to build his company, he recently discovered his wife’s extramarital affair through messages and hotel booking receipts allegedly sent to him by the man involved. Following this revelation, Sankar decided to file for divorce and negotiate alimony terms. However, he claims his wife retaliated by filing a series of police complaints, including allegations of rape and domestic violence.
“Later, she made further fake complaints—that I raped her (one month after the alleged incident), that I circulated her nude videos, etc. Singapore police investigated these allegations, found them baseless, and cleared me of all charges,” he tweeted.
As legal proceedings unfolded, Prasanna claimed that his wife took their son to the US without his consent, prompting him to initiate an international child abduction case. According to him, a US court ruled in his favor, leading to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) where he agreed to pay approximately Rs 9 crore as a settlement, Rs 4.3 lakh per month in maintenance, and share joint custody of their son.
Despite the agreement, Sankar alleges that his wife violated its terms. Fearing he might lose custody of his son, he approached the court to secure the child’s passport. However, he claims this triggered police action against him and his close associates. He alleged that the Chennai police harassed his mother and unlawfully detained his friend Gokul, picking him up from Bengaluru without a warrant. Gokul was reportedly held for three days without an FIR and pressured to surrender.
Sankar further alleged that the police had been tracking his phone, monitoring his bank transactions, and demanding Rs 25 lakh for his friend’s release. He also claimed he was threatened to delete his social media posts exposing the situation.
His online revelations have sparked widespread discussion on social media, with many questioning the actions of law enforcement and the treatment of men in such legal disputes.
A user commented, “Extremely concerning state of men in India. Doesn’t matter even if you have created billions of dollars of value.” Another wrote, “Violation of every Supreme Court guideline in this case by Thirumangalam PS Chennai Police. They picked up Prasanna’s friend without any FIR & kept him in the police station for three days in a child custody dispute.”
The official handle of the NCM India Council for Men Affairs confirmed that Sankar’s friend had been released. Meanwhile, the Chennai Police has yet to issue a formal statement addressing these allegations.
