The Free Press Journal

Fiancé, family dupe 70-yr-old of Rs 28L, booked

- PRIYANKA NAVALKAR

A 70-year-old senior citizen approached MHB Police to lodge a complaint against a woman, whom he had wed under pressure last year, and her family, for cheating him to the tune of Rs 28 lakh and decamping with the original documents of his properties in Mumbai and Rajasthan. The senior claimed he was cheated last year, but as he could not come to terms with the shock, he got a heart stroke and was on bed-rest since then. Police have registered a complaint and are investigat­ing the matter.

The senior citizen, Satyanaray­an Biyani, 70, who lost his wife in 2018 to a prolonged illness, was left alone as he had no children. Subsequent­ly, Biyani's health deteriorat­ed in June last year and he had to visit hospitals for regular checkups on his own. Around this time in 2019, his acquaintan­ce, Dinesh Parik suggested remarriage as it would give him some company and help him to manage everything with a partner. At first, Biyani was reluctant and refused the proposal to marry Aruna, who was a divorcee, but was shocked to find the woman along with her family at his doorstep.

After Aruna's family pressured him to get married, the couple got married in a traditiona­l set up and decided to register their marriage in their hometown at Rajasthan. Meanwhile, Aruna's family stayed at Biyani's house for over a month and had a spare key made as the senior could not get up often due to his deteriorat­ing health. Later in August, the new couple went to Rajasthan with the family and gave an applicatio­n to register their marriage.

When Biyani came back to the city, he found the house setting had been changed and that the cupboard, in which stored his former wife's jewellery, was moved into another bedroom, where Aruna's family had stayed. Out of curiosity, when Biyani checked the cupboard, he found his wife's jewellery worth Rs 28.59 lakh missing, along with the documents of his properties in Mumbai and Rajasthan. Biyani immediatel­y tried calling Aruna, but she did she nor did any of her family members answer any of his calls. Being convinced that he was duped, Biyani immediatel­y wrote a complaint letter to MHB Police and flew to Jaipur and withdrew his marriage registrati­on applicatio­n.

Unfortunat­ely, Biyani suffered a heart stroke and was hospitalis­ed until June this year due to the health condition. As soon as he was discharged from the hospital, Biyani approached police and lodged a First Informatio­n Report (FIR), following which Aruna and her family members were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating him of jewellery worth Rs 28.59 lakh and property documents.

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