Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Dec 19: The sixth additional district and sessions court here has found a person guilty of cheating a woman to the extent of several lacs of rupees by promising to provide her house site and build a house there.
The accused, found guilty, happens to be Manoj Kumar (38) from Karnad, Mulky.
The victim is a woman from Nandikur near Padubidri, who is currently employed in New Delhi.
Manoj Kumar, resident of K K S Nagar, Mulky, is a civil contractor. He used to build houses for people. The petitioner, who has her house at Dombivli, Mumbai and working in a company at New Delhi, had noticed an advertisement displayed by Manoj Kumar about sale of houses and sites, when passing through the Airport Road here.
The lady, who was desirous of owning a house in the city, had called the telephone number mentioned in the advertisement. The accused showed her several sites. Finally she expressed willingness to buy a nine cents plot bear Bappanadu. But Manoj told her that he does not sell vacant sites, but he can sell it only if she agrees to give him contract for building a house there. The woman agreed and paid advance amount of Rs 50,000 out of a total sum of Rs 60 lac prescribed for the site and house construction. However, this transaction was not backed by any written agreement.
In later days, the woman had transferred funds through different bank branches in New Delhi and Mumbai to Manoj. Out of these funds, Manoj had issued receipt for Rs 26 lac. Although he built a house in the said site, he did not register it in the name of the woman. At the same time, a case of raping the woman was registered against him.
The woman had filed complaint in Mulky police station on December 12, 2014, claiming that she had been in contact with Manoj about the progress in house construction, and that the accused had been promising to marry her. "When I visited his office on September 6, 2013 to know about the status of house construction, he had raped me. The house warming ceremony was performed on May 2, 2014, and on that occasion he clicked photo with me. But he did not register the house in my name. He had mortgaged the property to a bank and availed loan of Rs 25 lac. He neither repaid my money nor registered the house in my name. He also cheated me by not keeping up the marriage promise," the woman said in her complaint.
The accused was arrested and produced in court whereupon he was sent to judicial custody. After three months, he had secured bail.
The accused was charged with cheating, rape, and posing death threats. He has been found guilty of cheating and posing death threats. However, the court absolved him of the rape charge.
Judith O M Crasta had argued the case on behalf of the prosecution.