A reclusive couple and a double suicide – Karnataka village wakes up to fallout of digital fraud

Flaviana was found dead on a bed with no external injuries. Police said that though the exact cause of death will be ascertained after the post-mortem and forensic reports are received, it is suspected that Flaviana consumed poison and Diogjeron used a knife to slit his throat and slashed his wrists. His body was found in a small underground water tank near the house entrance.

Sabeena Villa at Bidi village in Karnataka’s Belagavi district. (Source: Special arrangement)

Investigators have found that the elderly couple, who did not have children and lived alone, had been facing harassment from cyber criminals for months. Police believe the couple paid almost Rs 60 lakh to the accused and eventually committed suicide under duress, fearing the fraudsters would initiate legal action or arrest them.

The case of the Nazareths has emerged as the most stark example of the menace of cyber fraud and “digital arrest”, wherein cyber criminals pose as law enforcement officials and extort money from victims over a video call to “settle or close” fake cases.

‘He went on demanding…’

A two-page purported suicide note signed by the couple was found on a table in their living room, declaring their “decision to commit suicide”. “Nobody is involved because we were happy and self-sufficient,” it stated while detailing their ordeal.

It mentioned that “a few days ago”, an employee from the “telecom department” in New Delhi called Diogjeron, informing him that someone was misusing his SIM “for illegal and harassing messages”. The call was then transferred to another person, whom he was made to believe was from the Crime Branch.

As per the note, the accused asked him for the details of his “FDs, shares and land and house property”.

“He went on demanding till everything was over. Now I am 82 and my wife 79 and we have nobody to support us. We do not want to live at somebody’s mercy. So, we have taken this decision,” the note read.

Police have registered a case on charges of abetment of suicide, extortion and cheating against two persons named in the note, but no arrest has been made so far. The FIR states that the accused told the victim some obscene messages had been shared from his number, and a case had been registered at the Crime Branch in this regard.

A preliminary probe by the Cyber, Economic Offences and Narcotics (CEN) department in Belagavi found that the victims transferred Rs 59.63 lakh to 22 bank accounts across multiple states.

“The fraudsters used Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for phone calls, which have been traced to Dubai. One call was made in January. The first transaction from the victim was done on February 27. We do not know for how long the ordeal lasted, but it is suspected that the accused had been threatening and extorting money for at least two months. The couple used up their savings to pay off the cyber criminals. It appears they just got tired of the repeated extortion threats,” said a senior officer.

Officials said that while the case may not fall strictly under the definition of “digital arrest” since most phone and video calls lasted less than five minutes, it once again highlights how the elderly are particularly vulnerable to elaborate cyber frauds.

Police said Diogjeron had borrowed Rs 5 lakh from two friends and Rs 50,000 from a priest and taken a gold loan of Rs 7.15 lakh. “It is not clear whether he borrowed money to pay off the cyber criminals or for some other purpose,” said the officer.

Police said the purported suicide note mentioned that the couple’s bangles, earrings, rings and gold should be sold and the money be used to settle his loans.

A ‘hermit-like existence’

After retiring from a job at the Secretariat in Mumbai – police are probing in what capacity he worked there and when – Diogjeron ‘Diog’ Nazareth and his wife moved to his native village in Karnataka in the mid-90s. Their house, named after his mother Sabeena, has ‘1996’ plastered on an outside wall. Relatives and neighbours said the couple led a solitary life and did not interact much with anyone beyond exchanging pleasantries.

Santan Nazareth, a neighbour, said Diogjeron studied in the village till class 10 and moved to Mumbai for higher studies. “He worked in the Secretariat and settled there. Sometime around 1995, he returned to Bidi after retirement. The couple were reticent about their affairs. Apart from church-related activities, they did not partake in other events in the village,” Santan said.

Diogjeron, a postgraduate, often gave English tuitions to school-going children and managed a small plot of ancestral land where rice is grown. Flaviana was a homemaker.

“They had a hermit-like existence and kept to themselves. They had no children. They left the house for groceries or to go to church,” said Michael Nazareth, their nephew.

“Both did not like discussing any aspect of their private lives. So, if someone was blackmailing them, no one else would have known,” he said.

Reena Nazareth, Diogjeron’s sister-in-law who lives next door, said he was a “proud” person who “did not appreciate taking anyone’s help or reaching out for a favour”.

“He would not ask anyone for even a cup of tea. He did things on his own,” she said.

The family said they can only speculate what led to the couple ending their lives. “It seems they were scared and felt humiliated that they may be arrested in some scam. So, they did not let anyone know. It’s a pity. Had they confided in someone, we would have alerted the police,” said Michael.

In the purported note, the couple “wished” that their bodies be donated to a medical institution for research.

Belagavi Superintendent of Police Dr Bheemashankar Guled said, “The probe is at a preliminary stage. So far, it has been found that Rs 59.63 lakh had been transferred to 22 bank accounts. Our teams are conducting raids to trace the accused. We appeal to the public to immediately report such instances to the police when someone claims that their name has come up in a police case.”