‘Marry and abscond woman’ finally caught

A 31-year-old woman “married” 15 men only to escape with their cash and jewellery but finally landed herself in a police net near Palayamkottai.

A native of Anavarathanallur village in the district, she was picked up by the police on Saturday night and managed to recover 15 sovereigns of gold from her.

Police claimed that with the arrest of the woman, who married these men over a period of time before decamping with cash, jewellery and other items from her husbands’ places, the mystery behind the series of thefts in and around the town had been solved.

The police also said that the woman was on a ’marry-and-abscond’ spree ever since the failure of her first marriage that left her with two children and no money to fend for herself and her kids.

With no means of sustenance, she hit upon the idea of entering into wedlock again and fleeing with cash and jewellery at a convenient opportunity. Her second marriage lasted about two months before she did the disappearing act.

Then followed a succession of marriages to 13 men in various towns, where she followed the same modus operandi, police said. The woman had also worked as a maidservant in many houses and stolen cash and jewellery.

She was arrested once in 2004 in connection with a theft of gold and jewellery, but was released on bail.