Couple in 80s end lives over digital arrest threat

Belagavi: Blackmailed, threatened with digital arrest and harassed by online fraudsters for nearly three months, an octogenarian retired govt official and his wife ended their lives at home in Karnataka’s Belagavi late Thursday, police said in possibly the first such deaths in the country from the growing menace.

Diego Santan Nazareth (83,) and wife Flaviana (80) were found dead in Belagavi’s Khanapur. Diego left behind a purported note in English blaming two tormentors who had taken Rs 5 lakh from the couple. The couple did not have children. “The couple didn’t inform neighbours or police,” Belagavi SP Bhimashankar Guled said. He expressed concern and urged people to report suspicious calls immediately.

Flaviana’s body was found inside their house, while Diego’s was pulled out from a sump outside. Cops said the two had taken pills to end their lives. Diego also tried to slit his neck with a sickle and jumped into the water tank.

The purported note by Diego—who had retired from Maharashtra govt —mentions that he was targeted by Sumit Birra and Anil Yadav since Jan this year. Posing as telecom officials from Delhi, the duo accused the couple of misusing their mobile SIM card to “commit criminal activities” and threatened digital arrest over it. Once they had forced the couple to part with Rs 5 lakh, they started asking for more money, the note says.

Diego mentions in the note they took gold and “friendly loans” from individuals in Goa and Mumbai, and requested that these be repaid from proceeds of sale of their properties.

In line with a wish expressed in Diego’s note, the couple’s bodies have been donated to Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) for research.

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