Rippling co-founder says 'on the run' to escape harassment by Chennai police, wife

The tech entrepreneur, who is currently in India, on Sunday took to X to share that he is going trough a divorce and is currently on the run with his son to escape the Chennai police, who he alleged is acting upon his estranged wife's false complaint accusing him of rape, and kidnapping their nine-year-old son.

Prasanna Sankar, co-founder of the multi-billion dollar HR software startup Rippling, on Sunday in a social media post alleged harassment by Chennai police on a 'false' complaint filed by his wife.

The tech entrepreneur, who is currently in India, on Sunday took to X to share that he is going trough a divorce and is currently on the run with his son to escape the Chennai police, who he alleges is acting upon his estranged wife's false complaint accusing him of rape, and kidnapping their nine-year-old son.

“My name is Prasanna, who previously founded Rippling (worth $10B); I’m going through a divorce. I’m now on the run from the Chennai police hiding outside of Tamil Nadu," Prasanna said in a post on X, which further added the details of alleged harassment by the police and also accused his wife of having an 'extramarital affair'.

Sankar, a graduate from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (NIT Trichy), where he also met his wife, has been married for 10 years. He moved to the US to start his own company and their relationship turned sour after he discovered her 'affair'. He also shared screenshots of alleged messages his wife exchanged with her lover.

He also said that as he filed for a divorce in India, Dhivya filed for a divorce in the US to make more money from it. As they were negotiating on terms of alimony, he alleged she filed false cases against him.

"After that we were negotiating the terms of how many million dollars I need to pay her, as a part of our divorce. She was unhappy and decided to instead file a fake police complaint against me saying I hit her. Later, she made further fake complaints that I raped her (1 mo after the alleged rape). That I circulated her nude videos. etc," he claimed. He further added, he has, since been cleared him from all charges after an investigation.

Sankar, who also accused his wife Dhivya of trying to kidnap their son, said that although they reached an agreement later on and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), she refused to comply with it. As he sought court's intervention on this, the co-founder says, his wife filed complaints with the police.

"As a part of the MOU, she had to deposit the child's passport in a common locker since I was worried she could fly away. She refused to follow it. She started claiming that the MOU is not valid and she wants more and will go to the US again to file a divorce," he said.

Dhivya allegedly filed complaints with the police in response to this using her connections, he claimed. Fearing arrest, Sankar said, he fled the scene with his son. However, he claimed, the police continues to look for him and is pressurising his family and friends to reveal his whereabouts.

According to reports, his wife refuted the allegations and denied of any wrongdoings.