KEBDRAPARA: The news of her son allegedly conning 17 women into marriage and defrauding them after draining their bank accounts is beyond the pale for octogenarian Gouri Swain of Singhala village in Kendrapara. Apart from family members, villagers too are utterly aghast at Ramesh Swain’s marriage scams which are being constantly flashed across TV screens since the 64-year-old fraudster’s arrest on Monday.
Expressing disbelief over the charges against Ramesh, Gouri said her son first married a girl of the nearby Chakana village in 1979 and the couple has two sons. But his first marriage went wrong and he remarried a doctor who is now serving in the port town of Paradip.
“His second wife is a nice woman. Around six months back, Ramesh came to the village and spent two days with us. But he never disclosed about his marriage with other women. This is quite shocking for all of us,” said the mother.
Ramesh’s younger sibling Umesh, a farmer by profession, said his brother was a village quack. After passing the High School Certificate examination, he worked as an assistant in the laboratory of a doctor. Later, he is believed to have posed as a doctor and started treating patients in the village and nearby areas. In 1990, Ramesh left the village and worked in Cuttack, Dhenkanal and other districts in the State.
Santosh Swain, another sibling of Ramesh, said, “We were speechless after TV channels telecast arrest of my brother for his secret marriages with many women. Since Monday, we have been receiving frantic calls from our relatives and well-wishers.” He also blamed the educated women who married Ramesh without conducting proper inquiry about his past.
Ramesh’s arrest has become the hot topic of discussion in Singhala and nearby villages. Pravat Swain, a friend of Ramesh, said his escapades seem straight out of the Bollywood movie ‘Kis Kis Ko Pyaar Karoon’ where the protagonist - played by actor and comedian Kapil Sharma - secretly marries three girls without letting them know about each other. “I knew Ramesh was wily but never expected something this big. He deserves punishment for ruining the lives of many women,” Pravat added.