A viral video showing a man taking the thumbprint of a dead woman has led Indian police to probe a suspected case of will forgery.
The woman in the video was identified as Kamala Devi by her relative Jitendra Sharma, who made a new complaint to local police in April. The woman is his mother’s aunt.
His family made a police report in 2021, but no action was taken then, Indian media reported.
Mr Sharma alleged that the video was recorded when Ms Devi’s brother-in-law Vajinath Kumar and his son Rajeev stopped at a lawyer’s office after the 80-year-old died.
“While they were bringing her body back home (from the hospital), they took her thumb impressions on documents and prepared a fake will after calling a lawyer,” said Mr Sharma in his police report, referring to Mr Kumar and his son.
In the video, a man can be seen standing over a lifeless woman lying in the backseat of a car with her mouth agape.
Assisted by a man while another looks on, the first man in a white shirt and black waistcoat presses the woman’s thumb against an ink pad to imprint a document.
The 45-second clip was circulated on social media in April, nearly two years after Ms Devi’s death on May 8, 2021, Mr Sharma told Indian media.
It is not known who recorded the video.
He said that the document is the “fake will” that Ms Devi’s relatives had used to inherit a house and a shophouse belonging to her.
He added that Ms Devi was a widow with no children.
Mr Sharma said his family’s suspicions were first raised two years ago when they learnt of the thumbprint used to authenticate the will, as Ms Devi was known to use her signature.
“Our hunch was confirmed after the video started doing the rounds on social media,” he told The Times of India.
The man in the video is suspected to be a lawyer in Agra, a city in northern state Uttar Pradesh.
Agra police on Tuesday charged three men, including a legal professional, over multiple offences including cheating, Indian media reported. Investigations are ongoing.
“The matter pertains to a property dispute between relatives of the deceased woman. The viral video is being examined,” an Agra police officer said, adding that the police are also trying to find the person who uploaded the video and why it had been circulated nearly two years after the incident.
The men in the video have been largely condemned by viewers on social media, with one denouncing the alleged forgery as the “lowest level of human behaviour”.
Others have called for the lawyer’s licence to be revoked.