mid-day speaks to some of his ex-wives, who say the fake ortho surgeon emotionally trapped them into marrying him
A cop takes away Hemant Sonawane, at Vasai, on Wednesday. PICs/Hanif Patel
The 51-year-old spice seller, who lied about being an orthopaedic surgeon and lured five women into marrying him, had also claimed to be an orphan. Hemant Patil alias Hemant Sonawane targeted well-educated and financially independent women. mid-day spoke to a few of them, and learnt that some never remarried as they were emotionally shattered.
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A source told mid-day, “Sonawane is addicted to porn. He must be sent to a mental asylum.” He met his first wife in Katni decades ago, and they have an 18-year-old son. He has been living with his mother, an engineer in a government-run office, after the couple’s divorce.
He also had illicit and live-in relationships with over six dozen women, including nurses of hospitals he worked at as a consulting orthopaedic, said a source. Police sources told mid-day that over 90 per cent of the contact numbers on Sonawane’s mobile phone belong to women.
‘A womaniser’
“He is a textbook example of a womaniser... He had emotionally blackmailed me, saying that he was an orphan. He was a good, caring husband in the beginning, but soon started fighting with me for no reasons or over trivial issues,” said a Mathematics professor from Karnataka. Sonawane is a native of Jalgaon and his father, Murlidhar, who worked in Railway Mail Service (RMS), passed away in December 2020. His mother, Malti, was a house maker and died in March 2018. “His elder sister, Manda Chauhan, is a primary school teacher, and lives in Chalisgaon. His younger brother, Hitendra Sonawane, has completed his diploma in engineering and lives in Dombivli,” said an officer from the Vasai police station. “He would always say that he is an orphan and that there is no one to take care of him. But in fact, his parents were alive when he first met me,” said another survivor.
‘Was shattered’
A dentist, who married Sonawane in 2014, “met him through the matrimonial website... He would pretend to be an orthopaedic surgeon. Once, he took my brother to a hospital in Mulund where he was a consultant.” Within a week of their marriage, she learnt that his educational qualifications and the medical degrees were forged. She filed a police complaint in Amravati. “In September 2015, he was arrested and imprisoned for nearly nine months,” said the dentist, who soon divorced Sonawane. She said she didn’t marry again, as the first marriage had shattered her emotionally. She added that Sonawane conducted multiple surgeries in Mumbai and “all these surgeries were unsuccessful”.
Thereafter, he rented a 1BHK flat at Rutu Enclave in Thane, and got into a relationship with an MBA student, but it lasted only a month. He later moved to Vijay Park and married an engineer, but she left him, said the source. “She has told her relatives and neighbours that her husband passed away. She is now living alone.”
Moved to Karnataka
Next, Sonawane married a Maths professor from Hubli in Karnataka. “I am the eldest among my siblings. I lost my father in August 2016, and I was looking for a responsible person who can shoulder the responsibility of my family, as my siblings were still studying,” she said, adding that Sonawane agreed to give her the support she needed, and moved to Hubli.
“He had told me that he earns Rs 10 lakh per month”, but later he fooled her into paying his hotel bills, and later sold off her jewellery. “Gradually, my family got suspicious, and I left him. I am now left emotionally shattered.” She said that Sonawane opened an orthopaedic clinic in Hubli and worked in many hospitals in Bailhongal, Belgaum, Mundgod and Navalgund. “He has also worked in a hospital run by Hubli-Dharwad municipal corporation,” she added.
She had hired a detective to find out the truth about him, and spent lakhs of rupees. “He would go to Thane where he had taken a flat on rent. He had married a B.Com graduate, 38,” she said. “His current wife is making rounds of the Vasai police station and court to bail him out. I have learnt that she married this cheater after going against her parents.” Other survivors told mid-day that Sonawane would also brainwash his victims to marry them.
Attempt to murder charge against Sonawane
A 59-year-old patient, who cannot even stand properly after the botched-up surgeries, has filed a police complaint against Hemant Sonawane.
Based on her complaint on January 12, “an FIR has been registered against Sonawane under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC. Till now, nine such victims have come up and we have recorded their statements,” said Senior Inspector of Vasai police station Kalyanrao Karpe.
Sonawane had operated on her knees in February 2020 at Kanekar Hospital in Vasai, she told mid-day “Even after surgeries, there was no relief in pain. After five days, he administered a few injections in my knees, but they didn’t help. He told me to visit Indu hospital for an MRI of my spine, and said that after he operates on my spine, I will be able to walk without any support. But my pain aggravated at Indu hospital, where I spent R20,000,” she added.
She was later rushed to a hospital in Shivaji Park, “where doctors told her that her knees were infected and that her legs would have to be chopped off.” She and her husband, both, were ill so they didn’t approach the police. “Yesterday, my physiotherapist told me that Sonawane has been arrested. So, we contacted the Vasai police and they came to my house and recorded my statement,” she said.
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