'Anand Jon is innocent'

Indian-born fashion designer Anand Jon is in jail on charges of rape and sexual assault. His sister Sanjana tells tabloid! why she blames a deep-rooted conspiracy and racial discrimination for her brother's incarceration.

My brother is a victim of racial discrimination. He is innocent," said Sanjana Jon, the sister of 33-year-old US-based Indian-born fashion designer Anand Jon.

Her brother has been in jail in Los Angeles since June 2007 following a series of charges, including sexual assault, brought against him by 30 women from various American states.

tabloid! caught up with Sanjana during her visit to Dubai at the weekend. Now in India to muster public and political support for the release of Anand who she firmly believes has been targeted for making it big in a fashion industry dominated by Italians and Americans.

Objective

"My main objective is to make people aware of what has happened. This is very important for me and my mother. We have got nothing but the truth to talk about," said Sanjana, who is still unable to comprehend that this could happen in America, a land that advocates "equality and liberty".

"Until March 6, 2007, when it all started, I never ever dreamt in my wildest nightmare that something like this would happen in US. We went there with a dream as teenagers and we have been living the American life. I can't even wake up from this nightmare. My brother is somebody who from the age of 16 started taking care of my mother and me. When you go to America, you have this ideological dream that you can make it by yourself without anything. That was who Anand was. We did not have a father to support us nor did we have a godfather," said Sanjana, while trying to keep her emotions in check.

Passion

Anand Jon developed a passion for metals and fabrics growing up under the tutelage of master artisans and his grandmother.

At 17, Anand started a scholarship towards an Associate Degree at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he graduated as student speaker.

Transferring to the Parsons School of Design in New York, he began to experiment with transition from fine art to fashion, showcasing limited edition adornments while at The New School for Social Research with majors in both fashion design and communications in 1998.

He was one of the first Indian fashion designers to make his debut at New York Fashion Week showcasing his collection in 1999. Since then there was no turning back for the designer dubbed the "boy from the backwaters" of the south Indian state of Kerala.

Sanjana said his New York Fashion Week debut was a turning point. "Everybody started saying that he is the one to look out for. Everything was fine, we never had an issue with anything. In 2006, Wall Street [firm] came and valued his brand name at $10 million (Dh36.73 million) and announced an investment of about $15 million (Dh55 million) in his company Jeanisis. Literally two weeks before his launch he was arrested."

Charges

Anand was arrested on March 6, 2007, after being accused of rape by a girl who had reportedly stayed the night at his apartment. Since then, many more women have come forward to add to the charges. California prosecutors claim the designer is a serial rapist.

Charges against him include rape, sexual battery, sexual penetration by a foreign object and sodomy by use of force, among numerous others. Anand is accused of luring women to Los Angeles to work as models and then attacking them. He has been charged with 59 counts of raping or sexually assaulting women between the ages of 14 and 27, between November 2002 and March 2007.

"Anand did not know what was going on. I did not know what was going on," said Sanjana. "This gave the District Attorney's office a chance and all of a sudden they realised that Anand was a celebrity and there was a media frenzy. They started calling him a serial rapist, predator and everything possible. They gave out nine press releases one after another. The DA's office was literally advertising and saying, ‘Hey, anybody out there with anything against him, come forward'."

Sanjana claims a conspiracy had been going on for over a year to frame her brother. "From the time his company had got funded these people have collaborated," she said.

"They had tried to extort money from him. When I say ‘they' I mean the wannabe models or the filler models who have been around Anand for years and even travelled with us to India. When this happened, all of them came forward and said ‘me too'."

Rights violated

Sanjana believes her brother's civil and human rights are being violated as she says he is being held in solitary confinement and in shackles.

"This kind of treatment is unheard of," she said. "The DA herself said that there is no physical harm, there is no using of a weapon, so my question is where is the proof that the allegations brought against Anand have actually taken place? They have ripped our lives off," she said.

Despite appointing four district attorneys to fight Anand's case, Sanjana is not hopeful and has enlisted the help of Majeed Memon, a noted criminal lawyer, to fight her brother's case.

"Memon is one of the biggest criminal lawyers and he is in this case not for money," she said.

"He came to the US and when he went through the case he himself did not believe that a person can be held behind bars when there is no medical evidence of sexual assault proven so far. In the US we have four attorneys working on this case but we are not seeing any kind of result.

‘Appalled'

"The reason why we are so appalled by the situation is that Anand and I work together. I am an eye witness who was present with him when these people alleged things happened. How could these things happen when there is no material evidence?

Not even one scratch on a person. How come there was not a single call made to 911 when these people said they were being raped," said Sanjana, who is disappointed that the trial is being pushed back for another six months.

"I call this entire episode a ‘conspiracy' simply because the moment Anand's company got funded; the charges were brought against him," she said.

Sanjana's sole objective now is to see justice for her brother which is why she has launched a global awareness campaign.

Meanwhile, Wall Street investment firm Joseph Stevens and Company has shown a vote of confidence in Anand Jon by extending their contract with him for his denim line called Jeanisis which they have backed since 2006.