73-year-old Thane woman cheated of more than Rs 57 lakh on pretext of marriage

Thane: A 73-year-old woman from Maharashtra's Thane district has been allegedly cheated of more than Rs 57 lakh by a man who promised to marry her, police said on Wednesday.

The victim, a resident of a housing society on Nana Shankarshet Road in Dombivli area, got in touch with the 62-year-old man through his matrimonial advertisement published in a newspaper, Vishnu Nagar police station inspector Vivek Kumutkar said.

After gaining the woman's confidence, the man promised marriage and a peaceful life together in Pune, he said.

"The man told the victim that he intended to purchase a house in Pune and convinced her to transfer Rs 35 lakh for it. He gave her fabricated receipts and fake property documents to assure her," the official said.

After temporarily living at the woman's residence, the accused also allegedly stole her gold ornaments valued at around Rs 20 lakh. He also allegedly stole her debit card and used it to withdraw Rs 2.4 lakh, according to the police.

After duping the woman of her funds last month, the accused disappeared and is currently untraceable, the official said.

Based on the victim's complaint, the police on Monday registered an FIR against the man under various Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(2) (cheating), 305 (theft in a dwelling house), 336(2) & 336(3) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc) and 340(2) (using a forged document or electronic record as genuine).

"We are probing the matter thoroughly and efforts are underway to trace and apprehend the accused," the official said.