A 49-year-old woman, who is a mother to a special child, and her relatives were allegedly cheated of ₹1 crore by her friend and a self-styled god-man in south-west Delhi’s Vasant Kunj.
A senior police officer said that an FIR has been registered under Section 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and further probe is under way.
The victim, a resident of a posh locality in Vasant Kunj and a fashion designer by profession, told the police that in May 2017, a close friend of her had told her about a god-man who was capable of solving issues, including litigations and matrimonial issues. The complainant said that her son – now 20 years old – is a special child and for his well-being, she had thought of meeting the god-man. “When we met the Baba, he said both my sons were possessed by evil and he would have to perform a ritual to cure them. For the ritual, he demanded two gold coins weighing 8 gm each,” she said, adding that she had handed over the coins to her friend in June 2017.
The complainant said she was “completely brainwashed” by her friend into believing in the god-man and also persuaded her three relatives and another friend. Similar transactions were allegedly made in 2018 and 2019 as well. “She continued to say that she was performing rituals for us and we believed her,” she said, adding that all had given gold and cash worth ₹1 crore to the woman.
“She had given us red pouches and said that those contained the gold coins which we had given to them. But we were strictly told not to open them for two years,” the complainant said.
In January this year, the victims grew suspicious as nothing had changed. Finally, one day they opened the pouches were shocked to find stones in it. The complainant said that she first asked the friend to return her money and gold but when she refused, they decided to approach the police.
Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered on June 5.