Man arrested for cheating 16 widows and divorcees

Police arrested a man for luring and cheating at least 16 women — all widows and divorcees — from across the state by promising marriage.

D M Ramakrishna, 46, not only cheated each woman of money, but also had physical relationships with a few.

The number of victims could further increase as the Seshadripuram police could arrest the culprit only recently. Ramakrishna had been trapping vulnerable widows and divorcees since 2006.

“We are in the process of verifying cases registered against Ramakrishna at different police stations across the state. The number of victims could increase and we are yet to ascertain the total amount of money involved,” said a senior police official.

Women from Bengaluru, Chikmagaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad and Mysuru had contacted Ramakrishna over marriage proposals.

According to the police, Ramakrishna used to place advertisements in newspapers seeking marriage proposals from widows and divorcees.

When the women got in touch, he would ask them to send their profiles and address proofs across through post, which the victims did unsuspectingly.

Ramakrishna would then use the address proof documents to obtain SIM cards to fake his identity. He would then scout and contact other widows and divorcees, learn their economic status and would cheat them as well. After some cheating cases were registered, the police tracked the SIM cards and ended up at the homes of women who had contacted Ramakrishna.

Govt job lure

One of the women whom Ramakrishna had trapped in Koramangala, was lured with a government job offer. Ramakrishna told her that he was a senior official at the health department’s recruitment division. He could get jobs for many people with his influence, he had told her.

The woman spread the news in her circles and Ramakrishna collected Rs 22 lakh from various job aspirants eventually. She herself gave Rs 3.9 lakh to Ramakrishna for the job, but all of them were cheated. After failing to get the job and the realisation of the fraud, the woman from Akshay Nagar filed a police complaint.

That’s not all. Ramakrishna once posed himself as a widower and expressed interest in marrying a woman. As the duo met, Ramakrishna took her to a hotel, laced her juice with sedatives and sexually assaulted her, the police said.

Who is Ramakrishna?

Ramakrishna is a resident of Doddamulagodu village in T Narasipura taluk, Mysuru district. After failing to pass the SSLC exam, he took up farming for a while. Later, Ramakrishna joined as a clerk at a college in Shivamogga.

In time, he migrated to Mysuru and lived with his wife and children. In Mysuru, he was involved in a cheating case after which he was jailed for a while. Upon release, Ramakrishna continued a wayward life, the police added.