US woman fakes abduction after running out of money: Police
According to Delhi police, a 27-year-old United States citizen living in Delhi-NCR staged her own abduction after she ran out of funds in an attempt to extort money from her parents. Chloe Mclaughlin, the woman, had arrived in Delhi on May 3. She graduated from a US institution, and her father, who resides in Washington DC, is an ex-army officer, according to the police.
Mclaughlin told mother that she was 'unsafe' and being assaulted
According to police, on July 7, Mclaughlin told her mother that she was in an "unsafe environment" and was being harassed and battered by a man she knew. They said she didn't provide her whereabouts. Her mother contacted Indian officials, and the US Embassy referred the case to the Delhi police. Police said the victim reported the case 2.5 months after arriving in India.
Embassy believed the woman is disabled or prohibited to communicate
On July 10, McLaughlin video called her mother again through WhatsApp, but just as her mother was about to ask for more information regarding her, a guy walked into the room and their call was disconnected. According to Amrutha Guguloth, Deputy Commissioner of Police, the US Embassy believed the woman to be either disabled or prohibited from contacting her family or the US Embassy.
How did the police solve the case?
Police stated they employed technological information and contacted Yahoo.com for assistance in locating Mclaughlin's most recent whereabouts. Mclaughlin had used an IP address on July 9 to e-mail American Citizen Services concerning her immigration papers. The Bureau of Immigration reportedly handed the police an address that was in Greater Noida that she had given them when asked to furnish the immigration paperwork.
More details regarding the case
Consequently, the police raided a hotel where she may have stayed. However, no one by her name was found in the hotel. When Mclaughlin called her mother on video, authorities discovered that she was utilizing someone else's WiFi, according to Guguloth. "Our team tracked the IP address....mobile network associated with...IP address, which led us to...Okoroafor Chibuike Okoro...a Nigerian national, in Gurugram," the police said.
Following inputs police arrested Mclaughlin who confessed her crime
He told the cops that the woman lived in Greater Noida. Following his advice, police tracked down and arrested Mclaughlin. When questioned, Mclaughlin admitted staging her kidnapping because she ran out of money within a few days of being in Delhi. This prompted her and her boyfriend, Okoro, to devise a plan to extract money from her parents, the DCP stated.
Legan action being taken against both the accused: Police
According to the authorities, both the woman's and her boyfriend's passports had expired on June 6. She traveled to India to live with Okoro, with whom she became friends on Facebook. They both shared a house together and were passionate about music. Both are currently facing legal punishment for overstaying in India without a valid approved passport or visa, the police stated.
