#Bizarre: Woman fakes 85 pregnancies, earns Rs 40,000

In a bizarre incident in Assam, a woman has been caught faking 85 pregnancies in the last six months.

The woman is a nurse

• Identified as Lily Begam Laskar, she works as a nurse at a government hospital in Assam.

Money was the incentive

• The state government-run a scheme to promote safer childbirth and awarding Rs 500 to every woman who chooses to deliver at a rural health centre, proved to be too good an opportunity to miss for Laskar. She showed about 160 deliveries at the state-run clinic, entering herself as the mother in half those cases, earning Rs. 40,000 as part of a scheme for new mothers.

Anonymous tip alerted officials

• Sarfaraz Haque, a senior government official, said that the fraud came to light after he and his team received an anonymous tip off.

• What they found was absolutely incredible. Not only had she faked 85 pregnancies, but was also in charge of receiving payments, so the deception was quite simple for her.

• Laskar has been arrested, and said, "There is a lot of pressure on nurses like us . We obviously don't get compensated properly for all the work we do. I faked just over 80 pregnancies. Yes I am sorry for it."