Coimbatore man arrested for duping techie of gold, Rs 3.6 lakh with fake marriage proposal

COIMBATORE: Peelamedu police in Coimbatore city arrested a 29-year-old man on Monday night for cheating a private software firm woman employee out of Rs 3.60 lakhs and 69.5 grams of gold ornaments by promising to marry her.
Police said the man allegedly cheated three more women using the same modus operandi, and the victims were afraid to lodge police complaints.
A 24-year-old woman from Karamadai in Coimbatore district lodged a complaint with Peelamedu police sub-inspector K Subashini on Monday around 3 pm. The young woman completed BTech (IT) in a private engineering college at Eachanari in 2022 and worked in an IT firm at Tidal Park in Coimbatore city for the past two years.
A 29-year-old, J Bagyia Arun, a polytechnic dropout from Puliyakulam in Coimbatore city, sent a friend request to her through the Instagram mobile application last year, and she accepted it. Later, they became close friends. He told the young woman that he was in love with her and wanted to marry her. He claimed to own a business and was earning well, assuring her that he would take care of her after marriage. He also told her that he had informed his parents about their love, who allegedly agreed to their wedding.
She trusted his words and fell in love with him. He often came by a white car to meet her.
In May 2024, Bagyia Arun asked her to visit near a railway track at the Hope College area, and she reached there in the afternoon. He told her that he was engaged in puppy sales and was facing huge losses. He demanded a two-gram gold ring for emergency purposes and often received Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 from her, occasionally returning the amount.
She gave him a 13.05-gram gold chain and five gold rings weighing 12 grams. "I gave all the gold ornaments to him as I believed he would marry me. He also called me his wife and agreed to return the gold ornaments soon. I gave 69.5 grams of gold ornaments and Rs 3.60 lakhs to him on various occasions in the last year. Since then, he started to avoid me, and I managed to meet him at the Gandhipuram bus stand in March 2025," said the victim.
She also added that when she asked him to return all the gold ornaments and money, he started to abuse her in a public place. He also told her that he cheated many young women by promising to marry them and received gold ornaments and cash.
Based on her complaint, Peelamedu police registered a case against Bagyia Arun under sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women (TNPHW) Act.
The police arrested the man on Monday night and remanded him to judicial custody early Tuesday morning.