Mumbai: Woman, kin booked for extorting man for backing out of marriage

The couple were to be married in October. Representation pic

An IT engineer, 28, has filed an extortion case against his would-be wife and her parents at the Charkop police station after they allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh when he decided not to tie the knot.

The man opted to stay single after he learned that the woman was simultaneously seeing her ex-boyfriend and had been accepting gifts from him. Police sources said the complainant and his family met the accused via a matrimonial site in May 2022.

As per the man's statement to the police, the woman shared his contact number with her mother who called him and spoke to him as well as his mother and asked them to send his kundli or horoscope. As the match was deemed fortuitous, both families started preparing for the union. The duo started appearing together at family functions and parties, said an officer.

Both families met in Nerul on the woman's birthday in July and decided that the couple would get married in October. The complainant went to Surat to buy clothes and jewellery for the woman. He also rented a house in Kandivli to stay after the marriage and booked a hall for the engagement ceremony, the officer added.

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While everything seemed to be going according to plan, the complainant noticed his partner always talking on the phone to someone.

When she revealed that it was her ex-boyfriend, he looked the other way initially, but eventually, he happened to see her hugging the man.

"He then spotted her roaming with the man in Charkop and Ghatkopar after which he alerted his family and the accused, and refused to marry," said another officer.

When the woman came to know about the complainant's intentions, she allegedly said that both families had gone ahead with the plan and if he backed out, she had no option but to end her life in front of her family.

According to the complainant, the accused then allegedly started pressurising him into marriage and threatened to consume poison. They also showed the complainant, on a video call, a white powder that they claimed was poison.

After the complainant refused to back down, the accused started demanding Rs 50 lakh to end the relationship, threatening to implicate him in a false case if he didn't comply. On Monday, the man finally approached the police and filed his complaint.

"We have booked six family members, including the woman, under Sections 34, 385, 406, 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code. No arrests have been made so far," said another officer.

May
When the man and his kin met the accused