Lost son comes home after 22 years as monk; turns out to be a fraudster

Bhanumati Singh from Delhi had no boundaries to her joy when she found out that her lost son Pinku had come back to them. But a twist awaited the family.

A long-lost son, who had left his home when he was 11 years old, came back home after 22 years as a monk. The narrative sounds very wholesome, until we know that the person posing as the lost son was actually a fraud, who had come to rob out money from the family.

Bhanumati Singh from Delhi had no boundaries to her joy when she found out that her lost son Pinku had come back to them.

In 2002, at the age of 11, Pinku, had run away from home after his mother scolded him over playing a lot.

In January this year, Bhanumati and her husband Ratipal Singh got to know that an ascetic was visiting Kharauli in Amethi, which is family's native village. As soon as they got this information, they rushed to the village.

On Jan 27, when they reached the village, the ascetic told them that he is their son, and now he has taken 'sanyaas' (renunciation).

In the video shared online, the ascetic can be seen singing, and Bhanumati, sitting beside him, shedding tears of joy.

Soon after, the ascetic told them that he needs to go back to the monastery Parasnath, which is in Jharkhand. When his family insisted him to stay, he said that his initiation will be complete once he visits Ayodhya.

Before leaving the village on Feb 1, the villagers gave him 13 quintals of foodgrains, Ratipal's sister gave him Rs 11,000, and Ratipal gave him a phone.

However, things took a turn for the worse, when the ascetic called Ratipal and asked for Rs 10 lakh, as a "price to pay as a monk to return to family life".

Later, Ratipal sold his village land for Rs 11.2 lakh, so that his son could come back; and planned to go to the monastery to hand over the money.

However, the ascetic gave excuses and told Ratipal to online transfer the money. Suspicious Ratipal then found out there is no such monastery in Jharkhand.

Police upon investigating found out that the man impersonating as Pinku was Nafees from Gonda village, reported NDTV.

The story just doesn't end at this. After further investigations, officials found out that earlier Nafees' brother had carried out a similar act and had scammed a family in the same way.