Indian Man duped 14 Women into Marriage posing as Doctor

An Indian man was arrested for allegedly scamming 14 women across seven cities after duping them into marriage by posing as a doctor.

The accused was identified as 54-year-old Bidhu Prakash Swain, also known as Ramesh Swain, a resident of Odisha.

Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash said he targeted the victims on matrimonial websites, marry them then flee with their money.

DCP Dash said Swain conned 14 women, including a lawyer and a senior Central Armed Police Forces official.

DCP Dash added: “His only intention was to get money and acquire properties of the women after marrying them.

“He would reach out to women from states like Punjab, Jharkhand and Delhi through several matrimonial websites.

“The women he targeted wanted emotional security as they either married late or were divorced and Swain took full advantage.

“Most of the victims are highly educated and hold key posts in various government and private sector organisations.”

Police say Swain has been conning women since 2002.

A complaint was initially filed by a Delhi-based teacher in July 2021 after she found out about his other marriages.

Swain had married the teacher in 2018.

Based on the complaint, police arrested Swain from a rented house and booked him under Sections 498 (A) (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code.

The property was searched and officers seized 11 ATM cards, 4 Aadhaar cards with different names and a certificate from a Bihar school under another name.

During the investigation, it was found that the Indian man had duped 13 other women.

Father-of-five Swain married his first wife in 1982. He married a second time in 2002.

Between 2002 and 2020, he met several women on matrimonial websites and married them.

After marriage, he stayed with them for a while.

Swain would then tell the women to go back to their parent’s home, claiming that he had to go to Bhubaneswar for work.

In 2018, Swain married a CAPF official from Punjab at a gurdwara in Delhi and then cheated her of Rs. 10 Lakh (£9,700).

He then stole Rs. 11 Lakh (£10,000) from the gurdwara, claiming to be a health and family welfare director and promising to secure building permission for a hospital.

Swain was previously arrested in 2011 for duping unemployed youngsters on the pretext of providing jobs or securing admissions in MBBS courses.

Posing as the deputy director-general of Central Health Education and Training, Swain stole Rs. 2 Crore (£195,000).

DCP Dash said: “We are planning to conduct a detailed financial investigation in the fraud.

“We will seek longer remand of the accused for a detailed probe.

“We know that many of Swain’s victims would not come forward to lodge a complaint due to loss of social prestige, but we urge all of them to speak up.

“If needed, an all-women team will be formed for further probe.

“A professional counsellor will also be included in the team for counselling his victims.”