Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): A woman and her brother were apprehended by Jabalpur police on Tuesday from Itarsi under the suspicion of deceiving people with the promise of marriage.
The woman had found a groom from Jabalpur on a matrimonial website and showed interest in marrying him. As the conversations progressed, she claimed to have passed the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) exam and secured a position as an SDM (Sub-Divisional Magistrate) trainee in Jabalpur.
According to media reports, the woman took an advance payment of ₹9.5 lakhs from the groom-to-be, and an additional INR 1-1.5 lakhs for purchasing household items for herself. The man went beyond, renting a house for her in Jabalpur.
The incident was reported in November 2022, and the woman was identified as Shweta Tiwari (37), while the groom was Vikas Tiwari (40) from Amanpur in the jurisdiction of Madan Mahal police station. They had met through Shaadi.com and expressed mutual interest.
Vikas approached the police with a complaint, alleging that Shweta had proposed marriage to him. She introduced him to her mother Nisha and brother Saurabh (35) from Itarsi. Soon after, she revealed that she had been selected for SDM training in Jabalpur but lacked accommodation there.
Advance Payment and Household Expenses: Building Trust
Believing her, Vikas arranged a rented accommodation for her in Rimjha, Madhotal, and gave her INR 4,000 as monthly rent. Upon Shweta's request, he also furnished the place with a TV, sofa, washing machine, bed, fridge, utensils, and other necessities.
Later, Shweta claimed that her family owned 10 acres of land in Katangi with a value of ₹1 crore, which she wanted to sell. Vikas saw this as an opportunity and agreed to buy the land for ₹50 lakh, providing an advance payment of ₹9.5 lakh.
Mysterious Disappearance: Groom Left Empty-Handed
However, when Vikas returned to Jabalpur after six months, he found Shweta missing, and her landlord informed him about the fraud. Vikas registered a case in January 2022, and the investigation officer, Sub-Inspector Deepchand Rai, revealed that the police had been searching for the culprits for a year and would soon apprehend Shweta's mother as well.
This is not the first time Shweta has faced allegations of fraud. Back in 2011, a similar case was registered against her in Itarsi, where she had deceived another person by entangling him in a love trap and extracting large sums of money.
