CASANOVA IN LEGAL DISGUISE MEETS HISWATERLOO
Astonishingly it was found that Sathya was ‘married’ to no less than five women from Kegalle, Wakitigala, Baddegama, Ambalangoda and Bulathsinhala
A story of a man posing as a lawyer marrying five women and collecting more than Rs 6 million in cash and jewellery by duping 35 other women with promises of marriage has reached the ears of the public.
Although the bogus lawyer got away with a new style of ‘legal’ practice that is certainly strange to genuine lawyers, he could not get away with his pranks for ever. He met his matrimonial Waterloo when he promised marriage to a young woman employed as a security officer at a private establishment in Pundalu Oya and skipped with Rs.500,000 in cash and Rs. 32,000 worth of her jewellery after promising her with marriage. Not to be out done by the fraudster, the security officer made a beeline to the Nuwara Eliya police to make a complaint against the prospective groom.
Following several leads a team of officers from the Nuwara Eliya Fraud Investigation Bureau finally caught up with 36-year-old Gamalath Arachchige Asoka Shakya when he was travelling in a trishaw at Galigamuwa in Kegalle. The man appeared to have been enjoying his ill-gotten
He met his matrimonial Waterloo when he promised marriage to a young woman employed as a security officer at a private establishment in Pundalu Oya
wealth. Police produced Shakya before the Nuwara Eliya Magistrate Saman Sri Kariyawasam who remanded him till February 08, 2012.
After his arrest, to sound impressive, Shakya briefed the police of his academic achievements. He told police that he was educated at a government school in Boyagama and a leading school in Kegalle before he entered the Peradeniya University and also that later he had graduated from universities in India and England. He produced several certificates to validate his claims too. While this package of information is to be verified, his academic pedigree is likely to be as bogus as his identity as a lawyer.
During their inquiries the police team found that Sathya had been using a forged identity card to cheat his victims. Following leads police unravelled the history of the bigamist. Astonishingly the suspect was married to no less than five women from Kegalle, Wakitigala, Baddegama, Ambalangoda and Bulathsinhala areas. The Romeo had also inserted (see picture of the ad) marriage proposals in leading newspapers and made friends with women who had responded to his advertisements. He found divorcees and widowers easy targets. Several of his victims were from Hanguranketha, Kandy, Kadugannawa, Rikillagaskada, Madawala, Kegalle, Peradeniya, Hasalaka, Elpitiya, Warakapola, Yatiyantota, Matara, Kamburupitiya, Galle , Kurunegala, Nittambuwa, Veyangoda, Jaela, Kalutara and Ratnapura areas. Perhaps the trail goes even further.
The Nuwara Eliya Fraud Bureau is still following Sathya’s amorous journey designed for financial gains at the cost of innocent young women anxious to