Nephew Takes Dead Aunt's Thumb Impression To Claim Property, Gets Caught On Camera

In a bizarre incident, a man was arrested after he was caught on camera taking the thumb impression of his dead aunt on blank documents. The video of the incident has since gone viral on social media.

Police identified the man as Suresh, hailing from the town of Mysuru in India, reported Deccan Herald. The deceased woman is his aunt, 73-year-old Jayamma, who died on Nov. 11.

Reports said Jayamma owned properties worth millions. She did not have children, and her husband died years ago. Suresh, who was taking care of Jayamma, planned to appropriate her property using fake documents.

The video shows a few people gathering around the woman's body. While one was seen sitting next to the body and arranging the bond papers in serial order, another was seen holding the woman's hand to help stamp the thumb impression.

In India, thumb impressions are legally valid due to its large illiterate population. As for a will, if a person cannot sign, a "mark" (including a thumb impression) is considered legally valid.

The woman, who captured the video, is the accused's close relative. In the footage, she was heard accusing Suresh of committing a crime by taking the thumb impression. Though Suresh was aware that he was being recorded, he says "do what you want" before rushing out of the house.

The woman later approached the police to file a complaint. She told the officers that she shot the video to warn Suresh against committing the crime. The woman said she was clueless about the bond papers or the motive behind the crime, local media reported.

Officers who questioned the woman later let her off with a warning.

In another property dispute case, a 20-year-old man was arrested for killing his entire family over a property dispute. The accused, Abhishek Malik from the Indian state of Haryana, shot dead his father, mother, sister and grandmother in August. Though Malik initially feigned ignorance and told the police that the house was locked when he arrived, he confessed to the crime during the investigation.