Woman who extorted money from 68-year-old with promise of marriage arrested

Thiruvananthapuram: A woman who extorted money from a 68-year-old man by promising to marry him was arrested on Wednesday.

Aswathi Achu, of Kollam, is an accused in several honeytrap cases. She cheated the man, who resides in Poovar, of Rs 40,000 promising to marry him. She was arrested from her house in Anchal.

Aswathi Achu had been summoned by police for questioning in the same case earlier. However, she was let go after she informed the police that the money was borrowed and she would return it soon.

Poovar police initiated arrest proceedings against Aswathi once the deadline, by which she had promised to return the money, expired.

This is the first time Aswathi Achu, who has trapped several police officers and politicians in similar cases, is being arrested.

The case

After the death of his wife, the complainant found it difficult to take care of his differently-abled son alone. Hence, he decided to marry again and asked a marriage broker to look for proposals. Through intermediaries, Aswathi Achu came into the picture. Though she agreed to marry him, Aswathi asked for Rs 40,000 upfront to settle her debts. 

The complainant agreed and gave her the money. However, Aswathi went back on her word later and started avoiding the man. She stopped answering his calls for months and even yelled at him once when she saw him in person. That is when the 68-year-old lodged a complaint with the police.

Earlier, the Kollam Rural SI had filed a complaint against Aswathi in a honeytrap case. Though the investigation was handed over to the Thiruvananthapuram Rural Crime Branch, the probe was halted midway. 

As per reports, this is because of the influence Aswathi had among police circles. She evaded arrest for nearly 2.5 years in various cases.