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17th Feb 2022

Man arrested after marrying 14 women in same country in major scam

Sarah McKenna Barry

Mr Swain scammed even more people out of money by pretending to be a doctor.

Indian police have arrested a conman who reportedly married 14 women and scammed them out of a significant amount of money.

According to a report by India Today, Bidhu Prakash Swain posed as a doctor and married numerous women between 2002 and 2020.

His targets were mostly middle-aged women and women who were divorced, and he met them online. His victims were from the Indian states of Punjab, Delhi, Assam, Jharkhand, and Odisha.

Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash told India Today: “His targets were highly-educated and worked in senior positions at various government and private organisations. He had his eyes on their money.”

Mr Dash has said that authorities will conduct a “detailed financial investigation” into the case.

“If needed, an all-women team will be formed for further probe. A professional counsellor will also be included in the team for counselling his victims,” he said.

“We are planning to conduct a detailed financial investigation in the fraud. We will seek longer remand of the accused for a detailed probe.”

In 2018, Swain married one woman who worked for the Central Arms Police Force and he has been accused of duping her out of Rs 10 lakh, which amounts to €11,720.

He allegedly conned another woman he married out of Rs 11 lakh, or €12,899, on the premise that the money would go towards a hospital.

Mr Swain was finally arrested after one of his victims filed a complaint against him claiming that he scammed her in July 2021.

Authorities subsequently discovered that he had conned 13 other women he married after meeting them online. He was found with 11 ATM cards and four identity cards.

He had previously been arrested for scamming unemployed people by promising jobs or training opportunities in exchange for a fee.

It is also being reported that he scammed numerous other people out of a significant amount of money by pretending to be the deputy director-general of the Central Health Education and Training.