Mumbai Doctor Duped of Rs 95 Lakh in Sextortion Scam by Woman He Befriended on Instagram

A 32-year-old doctor from Wadala has fallen prey to a sextortion scam, where a woman he befriended on Instagram extorted ₹95 lakh from him after engaging in obscene conversations and threatening to release intimate images and videos.

The complainant, an orthopaedic surgeon working at a reputed hospital in Mumbai, came in contact with a woman who introduced herself as Saumya Awasthi in February this year. She claimed to be a medical student at Gyan Sagar Medical College in Chandigarh and originally from Delhi. Saumya won the doctor’s sympathy by narrating stories of loneliness and gradually drew him into a friendship.

Once the doctor was emotionally trapped, Saumya began engaging in sexually explicit conversations with him. She first sent her obscene pictures and later pressured the doctor to share his nude photos and videos. She also lured him with the promise of visiting Mumbai soon. During this period, she persuaded him to send expensive gifts as well.

On May 2, Saumya delivered a shocker, claiming her mobile phone had been hacked through Pegasus software by a hacker in Thailand. She said their intimate chats and nude videos were now with the hacker, who demanded ₹2.5 crore (equivalent to 3.10 Bitcoin) within 65 hours to prevent public release. When the doctor asked for the hacker’s details, Saumya refused but claimed she was arranging money by selling jewellery and borrowing funds.

Frightened by the threat, the doctor realized he was trapped further when Saumya began blackmailing him directly. She threatened to leak the material not only online but also to his hospital and the medical council if he failed to pay. Succumbing to the pressure, the doctor transferred a staggering ₹95 lakh to her in 42 transactions between April 7 and July 30.

Later, while verifying the bank account details, he noticed the name Jasmin Kaur instead of Saumya Awasthi. This aroused suspicion, and upon further checking her Instagram, he found a profile under the name Sarthak Jain. A group photograph on that account revealed that Saumya was actually Jasmin Kaur, a student at Chandigarh’s PG Government College of Arts, and not a medical student as she had claimed.

The matter took an uglier turn on August 12, when Jasmin allegedly contacted the doctor’s wife and sent her the obscene chats, photos, and videos.

Following the harassment, the doctor approached the Central Cyber Police Station and lodged a complaint. Based on his statement, police have registered offences under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 308(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, including Sections 66(A) and 66(D), against the accused Jasmin Kaur alias Saumya Awasthi.