Mumbai: Man booked for allegedly cheating wife by not disclosing his sexual orientation

A 31-year-old man has been booked by Rabale police for allegedly cheating his wife by not disclosing his sexual orientation. The complainant has also alleged that her husband had kept her in the dark about suffering from a sexually transmitted disease. Fearing arrest, the accused had filed an anticipatory bail plea, which the court rejected on Wednesday. The man is absconding. The woman's lawyer has alleged that the accused was guided by a few of his partners, who are also homosexual, to get married to a woman while continuing his relationship with men.

In her statement to the police, the woman, a resident of Airoli, said that the accused's father had approached her family with a marriage proposal in June 2021. The woman claimed she was initially not interested as the man earned less than her, but the man took her to meet some of his friends, including a 60-year-old man, who convinced her to get married to him.

The woman said that her husband's partners too are married

"Meanwhile, he showed me an offer letter which claimed his salary to be Rs 14 lakh per annum. Later we decided to get married and held a ceremony in November 2021 in Thane," she said, adding, "But I was surprised when my husband said that his friends will also come along to our honeymoon along with their families. When I protested, he convinced me saying it would be fun to have more people around."

How she came to know

The woman stated that the man did not have any physical relationship with her. In December last year, the complainant found the man masturbating in their bedroom with his phone in hand. She added that the next day her father had called on her husband's phone, and after the conversation, she saw some messages pop up on the screen.

"There were messages from one of his friends, the 60-year-old one who had advised that we get married and then also accompanied us on the honeymoon. In the messages they were professing their love for each other. I was shocked and decided to talk to my mother-in-law about it. But my husband returned in the meanwhile and took me to the bedroom where he threatened me with a knife," the complaint stated.

She then gathered courage and narrated the ordeal to her cousin, who advised her to approach the police. "Meanwhile, I also came to know that he was suffering from an STD from his chat with the person, who my husband had claimed to be a father figure," she said.

"I can't explain in words what I felt when I first came across all this. The chats, videos I found were so gross and beyond my imagination. I have gone through a big mental trauma. What is more disturbing is that the friends or rather partners of my husband have also kept their families in the dark about their sexual orientation," the complainant said.

Gathering evidence

In February 2022, the woman employed a private investigator for cyber analysis of her man's phone and retrieved chats with several men, videos as well as the fake offer letter. The woman then went to Rabale police with the evidence, following which the cops registered an offence under Sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of security, will), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC in March 2022. "The anticipatory bail plea of the accused has been rejected recently. He is absconding currently and we are trying to nab him," said Senior Inspector Dulba Dhakane.

LawyerSpeak

Advocate Sagar Kadam, counsel for the victim, said, "The accused has confided the fact that he is homosexual and also took the victim to meet his partners to gain her trust. In fact, both of his friends are homosexual and married."

"During investigations, we have found several social sites misguiding homosexual to get married and have babies while enjoying life as homosexual in secret. In the case of the accused, his intention was the same, but as he had an STD, he could not have physical relationship with the victim. We hope cops arrest him soon," he added.

What is lavender marriage

A lavender marriage is a term that describes the marriage between a man and a woman, undertaken to conceal the sexual identity or orientation of one or both the partners.

Nov 2021
Month when the couple got married

6 April
Day the court rejected the accused's ABA