The Hindu : National : A victim of jealousy, says Anand’s mother

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Saturday, Oct 20, 2007
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A victim of jealousy, says Anand’s mother

G Anand

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shashi Abraham, the 56-year-old mother of imprisoned Los Angeles-based Indian fashion designer Anand Jon, says her son is the victim of false allegations raised by a set of “jealous models”.

She said her son’s meteoric rise in the industry had caused much jealousy and a lobby was at work to eliminate him from the high fashion business .

In March 2007, law enforcers in the U.S. charged 33-year-old Jon with 32 counts of “rape, sexual battery, lewd acts on a child and sexual misbehaviour” against several women, most of them fashion model-hopefuls between the ages of 14 and 23.

Ms. Abraham told The Hindu on Thursday that she was “running from pillar to post” to raise $1 million for her son’s bail. She hopes to sell her property in Kochi before her son’s bail plea comes up before a Los Angeles court on October 25.

Jon hails from a Syrian Christian family of rubber plantation owners in central Kerala. According to Shashi, Jon never consumed drugs, alcohol or tobacco. He was into meditation and Indian astrology. His works, mostly embroidered jeans with hand-painted symbols of snakes and lotuses, reflect his Indian heritage, she said.

Jon’s career took a blow in March this year when a 19-year-old woman model aspirant accused him of raping her at his Beverly Hills apartment. Soon, nearly 20 other models too raised similar allegations. Shashi feels that her son should perhaps have taken less interest in the lives of models who sought his help. Sometimes, he was rude with those who could not meet his professional standards.

“My son should have been more self-focussed. He has worked with over 5,000 models, several of them under-aged girls. Only 20 have raised such allegations against him,” she said.

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