Bride, mother dupe man of Rs 4 lakhs in name of marriage; Punjagutta cops file case

Hyderabad: In a case of alleged marriage fraud, a private employee, Sandeep Varma (33) of Srinagar colony, filed a complaint with the Punjagutta police, stating that he was deceived by a woman and her mother whom he met through the matrimonial website Shaadi.com.

According to Punjagutta Police, Varma said he was contacted by a woman named Gumbaz Swarnalakshmi, the mother of the prospective bride and was invited to meet them at their residence in Rajahmundry. Varma travelled to Rajahmundry, where he met the girl for the first time at her home. Both the girl and her mother expressed interest in proceeding with the marriage and called upon a priest to verify their horoscopes.

Varma alleged that the priest informed him of a ‘dosham’ in his horoscope, which required him to perform certain rituals involving offerings such as gold, silver and other items. He reportedly paid a total of Rs 4 lakhs for the rituals, in addition to transferring Rs 25,000 to Gumbaz Swarnalakshmi’s account via demand draft. He was then told to wait for an auspicious date to conduct the rituals and returned to Hyderabad.

However, a few days later, when Varma tried to contact them to discuss the rituals, they allegedly began avoiding his calls and acting suspiciously. Growing concerned, he informed them that he wished to cancel the marriage and requested the return of his money. The family reportedly refunded Rs 2.14 lakhs but started threatening Varma afterwards.

Varma claimed that two individuals, Yashwant and Gopi, contacted him via WhatsApp from the woman’s number, hurled abuses at him and his family and demanded additional money. They also allegedly threatened to ruin his reputation and job if he did not comply with their demands.

Following Varma’s complaint, the Punjagutta police registered a case on Wednesday and initiated an investigation into the matter.