KOCHI: Nearly a month after investigation began into a case where a 23-year-old woman from Kolkata was allegedly lured with promises of marriage, repeatedly sexually abused, and robbed of gold ornaments worth around Rs 40 lakh by a Kashmiri man she met on a dating app, Ernakulam Rural police continue to grope in the dark, with no concrete leads on the absconding suspect.
The suspect, Amandeep Singh, a native of Jammu and Kashmir and an operations manager with a private bank headquartered in Aluva, made off after living with the victim — a media professional from Bengaluru who later moved to Kochi — in a rented apartment and “tying the knot” at Aluva Mahadeva temple. He reportedly left for Kashmir, assuring her that he would convince his parents and return within a week, the victim told TNIE.
“We met through the dating app ‘Hinge’ last April. He even visited Kolkata to meet my family. After prolonged discussions, he convinced me that he could not leave Kochi because of his job, and persuaded me to leave Bengaluru and relocate to Kochi, promising a life together. But he brutally betrayed me, abandoned me, and fled with my jewellery,” she said.
Based on Amandeep’s promises, the woman arrived in Kochi on May 22, 2025, and lived with him for nearly six months in an apartment in Aluva. During their stay, she allegedly found that he had shared her private images with others, leading to assault and a suicide attempt, after which he apologised and she forgave him.
After leaving for J&K in November, Amandeep stayed in touch but later claimed his family opposed the relationship. When she told him she would approach the police, he called on December 8 assuring a meeting, but terminated the call and switched off his phone when she said she was at a police station.
“Aman’s mother and elder sister strongly opposed our relationship, hurled abuses at me and demanded a large dowry. His father and brother-in-law Rohit Jamval also threatened me. However, when J&K police summoned them, they claimed they had no contact with Aman,” the victim said.
After filing a complaint, three other women allegedly contacted her and said they were also cheated by Amandeep. One of them had reportedly lived with him in Aluva for nearly one and a half years and was pregnant when he abandoned her.
“Even as I fight this brutal cheating and loss of everything I owned, I am torn between pursuing the case and caring for my family — my aged father and bedridden grandmother. Above all, I don’t want another woman to go through what I did,” she said, breaking down in tears.
‘We’re continuing efforts to track him’
As part of the probe, an Ernakulam Rural police team travelled to J&K but reportedly returned empty-handed after a four-day visit, having failed to gather any concrete leads. The team was later asked to head back by senior officers amid allegations that the trip was treated more like a leisure visit than a focused investigation, with the complainant also refusing to bear what she termed ‘unnecessary expenses.’
A top source with Ernakulam Rural police said, the investigation was ongoing and not stalled. “The complaint was received on December 11, 2025, and a case was promptly registered. The suspect’s last mobile location was traced near Ernakulam South railway station on December 8, after which his phone and IMEI became untraceable, complicating the probe,”said the officer.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the private bank where the suspect is employed said, Amandeep had neither reported for duty nor contacted the bank before or after taking off, and his sanctioned leave ended on December 7, 2025. “We are monitoring the case and have begun looking for a replacement, though no formal action has been initiated yet,” the official said.