A 24-year-old woman was duped out of ₹5.9 lakh after a man pretending to be an astrologer promised to help remove "obstacles" in her future love marriage, Times of India reported.
The man who called himself Vijay Kumar, predicted that the woman, who lives in Bengaluru, will have a love marriage but claimed that due to astrological issues in her horoscope, she needed to have rituals performed to ensure that her wedding happened smoothly.
Rituals for love marriage
To perform these rituals, the man charged money from the woman. The woman, a resident of Electronics City and a private firm employee, said she found an Instagram account in January who claimed to be an 'expert astrologer'.
After learning her name and date of birth, the so-called astrologer created a birth chart and told the woman that she would soon have a love marriage. He charged her ₹1,820 to perform a puja.
After receiving the money, he concocted another story about her future marital trouble, to keep fleecing money on the pretext of conducting a series of pujas. After she paid him nearly ₹6 lakh, he began demanding more. Realising she was being exploited, she refused to give him any additional money and insisted he return what she had already paid.
Suicide threat
{{/usCountry}}After receiving the money, he concocted another story about her future marital trouble, to keep fleecing money on the pretext of conducting a series of pujas. After she paid him nearly ₹6 lakh, he began demanding more. Realising she was being exploited, she refused to give him any additional money and insisted he return what she had already paid.
Suicide threat
{{/usCountry}}Although he returned around ₹13,000, Kumar warned that if she continued to pressure him for the rest, he would take his own life and blame her in a suicide note. Days later, a man named Prashant contacted her, claiming to be an advocate. He told her that Kumar was on the verge of suicide because she was allegedly forcing him to return the money despite him performing multiple pujas on her behalf.
Concerned, she approached the police. A senior officer stated that the entire scheme appears to be the work of cybercriminals, with no real astrologer or advocate involved. Electronics City police have registered a case under the Information Technology Act and BNS Section 318 (cheating).