On December 6, Sonamoni Khatun from Jadavpur in Kolkata lost her 26-year-old husband Omprakash after he suffered a heart attack. Both were accused of committing bank fraud, which 23-year-old Khatun is now fighting as she raises her toddler as a single parent.
The case that led them to the police was that of a retired nurse from Mumbai who was duped of Rs12.23 lakh after she dialled a fake customer support of the State Bank of India for an issue related to a credit card that she had recently bought. This amount was transferred to Khatun’s account, which was later frozen by the cybercrime police. “We knew the police would come after us, so we left the city, switched off our phones, and rushed to Delhi,” recalls Khatun.