Belagavi, March 29: An elderly couple in Khanpur taluk, Belagavi district, died by suicide after being threatened with “digital arrest” by online fraudsters.
The couple, 83-year-old Diego Santana Nazareth and his 80-year-old wife Flaviana, ended their lives late Thursday evening after falling victim to a scam that left them in financial distress.
According to the police, Diego first attempted to cut his neck with a sickle before jumping into a water tank. The couple had also consumed sleeping pills.
A suicide note revealed they were defrauded of ₹5 lakh by two individuals, identified as Sumit Bira and Anil Yadav, who posed as telecom officials from New Delhi. The scammers accused them of misusing their SIM cards for criminal activities, forcing them to live in fear.
The note mentioned that Diego, a retired Maharashtra government officer, had borrowed money from acquaintances in Goa and Mumbai to meet the fraudsters’ demands. It requested the repayment of these loans by selling the couple’s properties.
Belagavi SP Bhimashankar Guled expressed grief over the tragedy and urged people to report suspicious calls. The couple, who had not informed their neighbors or the police, donated their bodies to BIMS Medical College, as per their final wish.
The police have seized a mobile phone, suicide note, and the sickle, and launched an investigation.
