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Man promises to marry 59-year-old woman, dupes her of Dh53,664

Mumbai - The accused claimed to be a divorcee and working at a private firm.

A 59-year-old woman was duped of Rs 9.5 lakh (Dh53,664 approx) by a man who falsely promised to marry her after getting acquainted to her through a matrimonial advertisement.
The accused befriended the woman in 2015 and identified himself as Madhukar Apte. He claimed to be a divorcee living in Mulund, Mumbai, and working at a private firm.
The woman was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times, "We started talking over the phone but I wanted him to meet my family. After some days, he met my mother and sister."
The accused then started taking money from the woman regularly. "He initially said his mother had a heart attack. Later, he took more money to purchase a plot in Ratnagiri," the victim said in her complaint.
The woman lodged a complaint with the police and stated that he tried to avoid the marriage on several occasions and that her suspicion rose after he asked her to transfer money into the account of Arun Gurav. On confronting him, the man told her that Gurav was his friend. The woman asked the man to return her money and was given a cheque of Rs9.75 lakh which bounced.
Later the man told her that his mother had passed away. "When I tried contacting him later, his phone was switched off," the complaint read. After several failed attempts of contacting the man, the woman decided to visit his house in Ville Parle. "When my sister went there, she learnt that no one called Apte stayed there. A woman opened the door, who told us she was Gurav's wife," the woman said, adding that she was shocked to know that the man was already married.
In December 2017, the man confessed that he was Arun Gurav and gave the woman three cheques which bounced. A case was registered with Worli police under section 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code.