Gwalior woman duped by cyber cons of Rs 2L ends life by suicide

Gwalior: A 36-year-old woman from Gwalior district in Madhya Pradesh committed suicide after being duped of nearly Rs 2 lakh by cyber scammers while she attempted to buy a puppy online.Police said Reena Prajapati, had been trying to buy a puppy from a website when fraudsters tricked her into scanning a QR code after which Rs 1.93 lakh was siphoned from her bank account.Shocked and scared, Reena consumed poison and later died during treatment. The incident occurred in the Bhatt Wali Pahadi locality of Krishna Nagar, under the Old Cantonment police station area.Reena, a mother of three, had been searching online for a pet dog when she came across what appeared to be a legitimate website on the evening of June 10. The fraudsters offered her a puppy priced at just Rs 5,000 and sent her images along with a QR code via WhatsApp. Trusting the process, she scanned the code to make the payment — only to find Rs 1,93,000 debited from her account in multiple transactions immediately.After realizing that she had been duped, Reena panicked and consumed poison. In a chilling voice message recovered later, she addressed the fraudsters directly, saying: "You've been calling me again and again, but the money hasn't come. I've consumed poison. My children are going to the police station. If you want to come, bring the money quickly."Her husband, Rajendra Prajapati — who works in the transport sector — rushed home upon hearing of the incident and found Reena in critical condition. She was first taken to a nearby private hospital and later referred to Jayarogya Hospital, where she succumbed in the early hours of Thursday.The family took her body to her maternal home for cremation. Reena leaves behind two sons and a daughter. It was only after her death that the full extent of the fraud became clear. Rajendra, while checking Reena's mobile phone, found the WhatsApp messages and audio clip that revealed how she had been cheated.Based on his complaint, Old Cantonment police have registered a case against unidentified cyber fraudsters.