This is identity theft that goes on for more than forty years. In India, a man was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison by a court for posing as the prodigal son of a wealthy landlord family, reports Western France.

The facts take place in the state of Bihar, in the northeast of the country. The son of a wealthy family, Kanhaiya Singh, disappeared on his way home from school in February 1977. A search was carried out, but police did not find the boy. When the family accepts the worst case scenario, the father finds out four years later that his son is still alive and is seen begging in a nearby village, declaring that he is the son of an important person.

A usurper according to mother

Facing the young man, the father and friends who accompanied him did not doubt that it was indeed the prodigal son. Although, as the police records obtained by BBCthe father told the police: “My eye is damaged and I can’t see him properly. If you say he’s my son, I’ll keep him.”

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But the joy was short-lived, the mother of the lost youth did not recognize her son in this newcomer at all. He was missing “a scar on the left side of his head” and the man failed to recognize any of his former teachers. The family then filed a complaint for identity theft and the man was eventually arrested, but released on bail after spending a month in prison.

Forty years later, the man was finally arrested

But the usurper will continue to use Kanhaiya Singh’s identity for forty years. In particular, he will be able to marry, attend university with the identity of his missing son, and he will even sell the property of his father, who has passed away.

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In the face of his refusal to take a DNA test to definitively prove that he is indeed the son he claims to be, the police are finally interested in the man again. The scammer also attempted to change his identity thanks to a fake death certificate before being arrested and convicted.