Security guard dupes women on matrimonial sites

Brut India

Here’s how a Haryana man deceived women with false promises of marriage...

Transcript

00:00He was accused of deceiving hundreds of women on matrimonial sites by pretending to be a wealthy man.

00:05In reality, he worked as a security guard.

00:08Manoj Gehlian from Haryana spent his quiet nights as a security guard,

00:12wondering his life struggles.

00:14In 2017, he came up with an idea.

00:17Seeking to escape his low-paying job, he decided to create a new identity,

00:21entirely different from his own.

00:23With a few clicks, Manoj created fake profiles on various matrimonial sites,

00:28crafting the persona of a high-earning professional,

00:31which was very different from his reality as a security guard.

00:34His targets were women seeking love, companionship and marriage.

00:38His modus operandi was to lure women into relationships by convincing stories.

00:42At times, he portrayed himself as a senior manager in a well-known company,

00:46earning 15-20 lakh rupees a year.

00:49At other times, he impersonated a high-ranking government official.

00:53After gaining their trust,

00:55Manoj would arrange meetings, continuing to present himself

00:58as the charming and successful man he pretended to be.

01:01As they began to open up,

01:02he would manipulate them into sharing their credit and debit card details.

01:06Once he got what he wanted, he would steal money from their accounts.

01:10And just like that, after draining their trust and their bank accounts,

01:13he would vanish.

01:14The fake profiles he had created would be deleted without a trace,

01:18and the women left in the dark would be ghosted without a word.

01:22On 23rd November 2024, a woman filed a complaint against Manoj

01:26of deceiving her at the cyber police station of the West District.

01:29Another woman alleged that he pretended to be a top executive at Delhi Metro

01:34and misused her financially and physically.

01:36According to the National Crime Records Bureau,

01:39dating scams increased by more than 24% in 2022.

01:42The following year, people lost over 200 crores due to these scams.

01:47The police said most of the victims don't complain and such cases go unreported.

01:51In the first four months of 2024,

01:53dating apps caused losses amounting to over 13 crore rupees

01:57in over 1700 complaints.

01:59In Manoj's case, when the police reached out to the women

02:02whose phone numbers were found on his device,

02:05some hesitated to come forward.

02:07Many were afraid of the social stigma and the shame that might follow

02:10if their involvement became known.

02:12A team was set up to investigate the case

02:14and trace the transaction to Manoj's bank account.

02:17However, they couldn't find him as the address on record was incorrect.

02:21The police found his fake profiles where he has switched between

02:24having a beard in one and being clean-shaven in another.

02:28His clothes also changed often,

02:30making his fake identities look inconsistent.

02:32But on 15 December, the police conducted a raid

02:35in the Usmanpur area of the northeast Delhi

02:37and they managed to arrest Manoj.

02:40The police said they recovered five debit cards and a mobile phone

02:43from his possession during the raid.

02:51For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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