Indian man poses as wealthy family’s missing son, jailed after 41 years
The 62-year-old man, who was found guilty of fraud, became 'heir' to the Singh family's fortune shortly after meeting them
An Indian court recently has convicted a 62-year-old man impersonating a wealthy Indian family's missing son for more than four decades.
In 1981, The con man Dayanand Gosai approached Kameshwar and Ramsakhi Singh and claimed to be their only son – Kanhaiya – who went missing at the age of 16.
Kameshwar, considered to be one of the wealthiest landlords in Nalanda, Bihar district, in the north east of India, took Gosai in after he approached the family, reports The Khaleej Times.
However, Kameshwar's wife could not accept Gosai as his son Kanhaiya so easily.
She and their five daughters pointed out that Gosai could not be the missing son because he didn't have the same childhood scar as Kanhaiya.
When the family asked him questions to confirm his identity, Gosai failed to answer any of them. He didn't recognise family members in photo albums, recall family events, or name any teachers at school.
Despite this, Kameshwar was convinced that Gosai was his son, and he permitted him to live in his home, which stood on 50 acres of the family's property.
Ramsakhi insisted that Gosai was not her son and took the matter to court, but the case dragged on for decades.
Both Kameshwar and Ramsakhi died 15 years after Gosai met the family, leaving Gosai as the "heir" to the family fortune.
He inherited the Singh family's land and possessions, which he eventually sold for his own gains.
Rajesh Kumar, Ramsakhi's lawyer, was quoted as saying: "Till her dying breath, she said this liar was not her son."
Vidya Singh, the couple's eldest daughter, returned to court after her mother's death to reopen the case against Gosai, which had been closed by police.
Despite a court judgment in 2019, Gosai declined to take a DNA test, despite mounting evidence against him.
He was recently sentenced to three years in jail on a charge of forgery and another six months for criminal conspiracy.
Gosai did not stop his pursuit during trial. He continued to keep up his act by producing a fake death certificate for himself.
He tried to convince the court that he couldn't be himself and was the missing son.
