Looteri Dulhan: Maharashtra woman married 8 men, extorted lakhs, caught at 9th attempt
Fathima used to fabricate emotional stories about her life and trap her victims from matrimonial sites and social media platforms.
New Delhi: A 35-year-old woman was arrested in Maharashtra's Nagpur city for allegedly marrying eight men and extorting lakhs of money from them. Fatima Sameera, also known as "Lotteri Dulhan," was caught while meeting her ninth potential victim on Tuesday. The accused conned several men for 15 years.
The police reportedly caught Fatima from a tea ship in Nagpur, and a case has been registered against the accused. According to the initial investigation, Fatima is connected to a gang that used to assist her in trapping her victims and extorting huge sum of money from them.
Acted as "helpless widow"
Fatima is a school teacher by profession and has a 12-year-old child. She used to trap her victims via social media platforms and matrimonial sites. The woman gained the trust of men by fabricating emotional stories about her life and presenting herself as a helpless widowed woman, who is in trouble. The victims, believing in her fake narrative, married her, according to a Times of India report.
After marrying the targets, Fatima used to blackmail her husbands by recording their conversations. The accused used to forge the recording to create a "misunderstanding" with the men. The fraudster also filed false complaints of harassment and adultery against the men and consequently extorted large sum of money from the victims.
The incident came to light when one of her targets, Ghulam Pathan, whom she married in 2022, filed a complaint against her. The FIR said that Fathima registered fake complaints against him and allegedly took Rs 10 lakh to withdraw the complaint.
Managed to trick RBI officials
Another victim alleged that Fatima extorted Rs 5o lakhs from him while the other alleged that the bride took Rs 15 lakhs from him. According to initial investigation, it is believed that Fatima conned some senior officials from Reserve Bank as well.
To avoid arrest, Fatima claimed that she was pregnant, but eventually the police apprehended her. Currently, the investigators are searching for her accomplices in the state.