A woman in India allegedly dressed up as a man for four years and duped two women into marrying her for money from their dowry. The police say they came to know she was female only after her arrest on charges of dowry harassment.
25-year-old Sweety Sen was arrested on Thursday in the state of Uttrakhand after a woman Sen was married to complained of torture for dowry.
“The lady used to pose as a man in terms of looks and enticed women on Facebook and later married them, a senior police official, Janmejay Khanduri said.
It is not clear from information provided by police if Sen is a trans man who identifies as male, but police have referred to the defendant throughout as a woman, using the pronouns she/her.
Police said Sen created a Facebook profile in the name of Krishna Sen in 2013 posing as a man.
Sen then married a woman named Kamini in 2014 after befriending her over social media.
The police said Sen began harassing Kamini for dowry and forced her to get Rs. 8.5 lakh ($17,000) from her family.
“We got married in 2014, she used to behave like a man, used to drink, smoke and also abuse. She used to threaten to kill me after she married another woman,” Kamini told news agency ANI.
Sen married another woman, Nisha, in 2016 and began living with her at a rented accommodation in a small town.
The police officials said Sen never allowed the two women to look at her body and used sex toys to maintain the illusion of being a male, the reported.
On Wednesday, Nisha said she came to know of Sen’s real identity some time ago but chose not to go to the police.
In October 2017, Sen’s first wife lodged a complaint against Sen alleging harassment for dowry and domestic violence.
After remaining on the run since then, Sen was finally nabbed on Wednesday.
“We had arrested Sen for dowry and domestic violence. We had no clue that Sen was a woman. During questioning, Sen said she was a woman. We got her medical examination done and it was established that she was a woman.” B L Vishwakarma, head of the Kathgodam police station said.
Police had originally charged Sen with dowry harassment but they modified the charges as her marriages to the two women couldn't officially be considered lawful unions.
“Krishna has been booked for forgery and not for dowry. Technically she was not a husband, therefore, it cannot be treated as marriage,” the quoted the investigating officer as saying.
Police said they are on the lookout for Sen’s family, who were present during both the weddings and allegedly visited the homes of the two duped women.
Editor's note: It is not clear from information provided by police if Sen is a trans man who identifies as male, but police have referred to the defendant throughout as a woman, using the pronouns she/her.
