Pregnant woman faked kidnap to escape in-laws?

The 24-year-old Goregaon woman who claimed to have been abducted, robbed and molested by four men on Wednesday fabricated the entire incident in a bid to escape matrimonial pressures, police claimed on Friday.

The 24-year-old Goregaon woman who claimed to have been abducted, robbed and molested by four men on Wednesday fabricated the entire incident in a bid to escape matrimonial pressures, police claimed on Friday.

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More married a merchant navy officer four months ago, and is said to be pregnant. Her husband is away in Brazil on work and the woman lives with her in-laws in Goregaon. Police say she was unhappy with her in-laws and wanted out. She came up with the plot, hoping that a complaint of attempted rape would spur her in-laws to abandon her.

On Wednesday evening, Puja More was found by a police patrolling van in Malvani. She told the police that she was abducted by four men in the morning when she stepped out of home for an errand. More told the police that the men dragged her into an Innova parked in a busy market and fled the spot. When they attempted to rape her, she pleaded mercy saying she was pregnant.

When police investigated the case, they realised that that the incident was fabricated. Police claim that More had spent the day with her friend Mangesh Breed, a software engineer.

"More spent the day with Breed in Borivali. He dropped her at Malwani, but she lied to the police saying she had been abducted, robbed and molested. She had handed over her jewellery to Breed and told police she had been robbed," said Rajendra Dabhade, deputy commissioner of police, zone 12.

Police arrested Breed on Thursday and recovered the jewellery from him. Breed told police that More was unhappy living with her in-laws and chose to spend the day with him.