Runaway bride duped 10 husbands

32-year-old Kausar Begam cheated people by marrying them and fleeing with their money and valuables. Then, she’d register complaints of dowry harassment against her husbands. Begam’s parents, who had allegedly been assisting her, are in police custody, reports Rachna Pratihar.

A 32-year-old woman and her parents were arrested on Saturday by the Sion police for allegedly cheating a city businessmen over the last 18 years.

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The police said Bangalore-based Kausar Begam cheated people by marrying them and fleeing with their money and valuables. Then, she’d register complaints of dowry harassment against her husbands. Begam’s parents Iqbal Pasha and Gulnaz, who had allegedly been assisting her, are in police custody.

The police said the trio targeted only businessmen and visitied five-star hotels to approach them. Begum would befriend the victim and propose marriage. After the wedding, she’d flee with valuables and threaten to lodge a dowry harassment case. Inspector Shantanu Pawar said: “The trio has been booked for cheating, threatening and blackmailing, criminal conspiracy.”

The incident came to light in 2008, when Sayyed Ahmed (35), a businessman from Powai, lodged a complaint that his wife and her parents had been blackmailing him for two years. “Probe revealed that Begum had been cheating several businessmen in the city using a similar modus operandi,” a police officer said.

“Ahmed was Begam’s ninth husband. A fortnight after their marriage in 2006, Begam left with the jewellery and went to Bangalore,” said Ganesh Iyer, Ahmed’s lawyer.