Pesin wey pretend to be one family son for 41 years after dia son miss

One court for India don send one man go prison afta dem find am guilty of posing as di son of one rich landlord for 41 years.

BBC Soutik Biswas put togeda di strange tori of dishonesty and delay in justice.

For February 1977, one teenage boy disappear on im way home from school for di eastern state of Bihar.

Kanhaiya Singh, di only son of very rich and influential zamindar (landlord) for Nalanda district, bin dey return from school from di second day of exams.

Im family do missing person report wit police.

Efforts to find Kanhaiya no work. Im old papa become depressed and begin to visit quacks.

One village spiritualist tell am im son dey alive and go "appear" soon.

For September 1981, one man for im early 20s land di village, nearly 15km from wia Kanhaiya bin live.

Im bin dress in orange yellow and im sing songs and beg to survive.

Im tell area pipo say im na "son of one prominent person" of Murgawan, village of di missing boy.

Wetin bin happun next no too clear.

But wetin clear be say wen rumour say im son wey dey miss don return reach Kameshwar Singh ear, im travel to di village to see for imsef.

Some of im neighbours wey escort Singh tell am say true-true di man naim son and im carry am go home.

"My eyes don dey go and I no fit see am properly. If you say na my son, I go keep am," Singh tell di men, according to police records.

Four days later, news say her son don return reach Singh wife, Ramsakhi Devi, wey go visit her daughter Vidya, for di state capital, Patna.

She rush back to di village and, as she land, she realise say di man no be her son.

Kanhaiya, she say, bin get one "cut mark on di left side of im head", and dis man no get am.

Im also bin no fit recognise one teacher from di boy school.

But Singh bin dey convince say di man na dia son.

Days after di incident, Ramsakhi Devi file case say di man na imposter and police arrest am briefly and im spend one month for prison before dem bail am.

Wetin happun inside di next forty years na alarming tori of dishonesty wia one pretend to be di missing son of di landlord and use cunny enta im house.

Even as dem release am from bail, im get new identity, go college, marry wife, raise family and gada plenty fake identities.

Wit dis fake IDs, im vote, pay tax, give informate for national identity card, get gun licence and sell 37 acres of Singh property.

Im continuously refuse to provide DNA sample to match wit di landlord daughter to prove say dem be siblings.

And for move wey shock di court, e even try to "kill" im original identity wit fake death certificate.

Dis imposter tori na sad tori of officials wey no sabi dia work and di slow court system: nearly 50 million cases dey pending for di kontri courts and more dan 180,000 of dem dey pending for more dan 30 years.

For one official records, di man suprisenly register as Kanhaiya Ji – one of India title of respect. First and second name na di accepted form of identification all over di world.

Except, according to di judges wey find di man guilty of impersonation, cheating and conspiracy and send am to prison for seven years, im real name bin be Dayanand Gosain, im from one village for Jamui district, about100km (62 miles) away from im "adopted" home.

One black-and-white photograph of Dayanand Gosain from im wedding for 1982 - one year aft aim enta di Singh family – show one fair man wit thin moustache.

Im dey wear one weak decorative veil and im bin dey look far distance.

Many of di facts about am before in enta di Singh family no too clear.

Im official documents get different dates of birth – na January 1966 dey im secondary school records, February 1960 for im national identity card and 1965 for im voter identity card.

One 2009 local goment card for accessing food rations write im age as 45 years, wey go mean say dem born am for 1976. Gosain family say im dey "about 62", wey go match wit im birth date for di national card.

Wetin investigators fit to confam be say Gosain na di youngest of four sons of one farmer for Jamui, say im sing and beg to survive and say im leave house for 1981. Chittaranjan Kumar, one senior police officer for Jamui, say Gosain bin marry early, but his wife leave am soon afta.

"Di couple didn't have children and in first wife no remarry and settle down," Kumar tok.

Im also find one man for di village wey bin identify Gosain for court during di case. "Pipo for in village bin somehow sabi say im dey live wit one landlord family in Nalanda," Judge Manvendra Mishra write in im verdict.

Singh marry Gosain to one woman of im own landowning caste one year afta e carry am come home.

According to one document wey dey di family handle, Gosain get bachelor's degree in English, politics and philosophy for one local college, wey find im behaviour "satisfactory".

Gosain get two sons and three daughters. After Singh die, im inherit half of one two-storey mansion wey dey almost 100 years for Murgawan. (di oda half wey dey dive wit low wall belong to anoda branch of di Singh family.)

Facing one big water tank, surrounded by mango and guava trees, and wit one unpainted iron gate and brick walls, di air around di house dey smell of decay.

Wit three generations living under im roof, di 16-room house bin dey full of life back in di days.

Now di place dey one kain quiet wey fit make pesin fear. Di courtyard no tidy, and one rotting wheat hulling machine dey for one corner.

Gosain elder son Gautam Kumar say im papa dey generally stay house and manage about 30 acres of farm land.

Di land bin dey grow rice, wheat and pulses, and na mostly contract workers dey farm am.

Gautam Kumar say di family no ever discuss di "impersonation case" wit dia father.

"Na our father. If my grandfather accept am as im son, who we be to question am? How you no go fit trust your papa?" im ask.

"Now afta all dis years, our lives and identities dey hang because dem don take away my father identity. We dey live wit so much anxiety."

For court, Judge Mishra ask Gosain wia im bin live during di four years wey im miss.

Gosain no give direct reply. E tell di judge say im bin stay wit one a holy man for im ashram for Gorakhpur, one city for neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh.

But im bin no fit provide any witness to support im claim.

Gosain also tell di judges say im no ever claim say im na di landlord lost son.

E say Singh only "accept me as im son and take me home".

"I no deceive anyone by impersonation. I be Kanhaiya," im tok.

For im only photograph – one black and white studio mugshot, wey stapler pins don scata inside court papers - Kanhaiya Singh, wit im hair wey e do fine parting and one light-colour shirt wey im wear, look inside camera.

Di irony be say pipo for Murgawan, one small village of around 1,500 mostly upper cast Hindus about 100ok from Patna, don almost forget about Kanhaiya, wey bin vanish wen im dey 16 years.

Gopal Singh, senior Supreme Court lawyer and im relative, remembers Kanhaiya as one "timid, shy and friendly" boy. "We grow up togeda, we bin play togeda. Wen im disappear, pipo cry no be small," im tok. "And wen di man appear four years later, im no resemble Kanhaiya at all. But im papa insist say na im lost son. So wetin we fit do?"

Kameshwar Singh, wey die for 1991, bin be influential landlord, im bin own, one estimate say, more dan 60 acres of land.

Dem elect am village council leader for close to four decades and bin get Supreme Court lawyers and one member of parliament among im close relatives.

Singh get seven daughters and one son (Kanhaiya) from two marriages - di boy be di youngest and, by all accounts, im favourite child and natural heir. Interestingly, di sick landlord no ever go court to defend Gosain.

"I don tell villagers," Singh tell police, "say if we find say dis man no be my son, we go return am."

At least 12 lawyers bin hear di case for forty years.

Finally, one trial court do hearing without break for 44 days beginning for February dis year and give im verdict for early April.

Judge Mishra find Gosain guilty. For June, one higher court maintain di order and sama Gosain seven years of "rigorous imprisonment."

Di court find all di seven witnesses wey im carry come unreliable. "We bin no take dis case seriously. We for gada our evidence beta. We bin never tink say e get any doubt about my father identity," Gautam Kumar tok.

Drama for court enta anoda level wen defence produce death certificate, wey declare say Dayanand Gosain don die.

But di certificate bin get plenty coma. Di date na May 2014, but e say Gosain die for January 1982.

Police officer Chittaranjan Kumar say wen im check checked local records, im find say no record of Gosain death.

Local officials tell am say di certificate na "obviously fake". Kumar tok: "E dey very very easy to forge documents here."

The court ask di defence why dem make di death certificate 32 years afta di death of di pesin and dismiss am as fake.

"To prove imsef as Kanhaiya, Gosain kill imsef," Judge Mishra tok.

Di main evidence against Gosain be say im reuse to give im DNA sample, wey gomentlawyers first ask for for 2014. For eight years, im bone dem only for dis February, im come give one statement refusing to give im sample.

"No need for any oda evidence now," court tok. "Di accused know say DNA test go expose im lie-lie claim."

"Di burden of proof dey on di accused to prove im identity," di judge add.

Gosain judgement fit be di beginning lawyers tok.

Di court believe say e get bigger conspiracy wey involve many oda pipo of Murgawan wey help "plant" Gosain into Singh family as im lost son.

Di judge dey suspect say dis pipo fit don buy di land wey Singh bin own and wey Gosain later sell as im natural heir.

Dem di investigate di two claims.

"E get big conspiracy wey dem plan against my family [to grab] our property, dem take advantage of my husband sickness and im eye wey don almost dey go blind" Ramsakhi Devi, wey die for 1995, bin tell di court.

E still get many unanswered questions for dis story of deception and dishonesty.

Wetin happun to di land wey Singh sell using fake identity?

Dem go collect di plot from di buyers and distribute am among im surviving daughters wey be di natural heirs?

How dem go take deal wit Gosain fake identities?

And most importantly, wia Kanhaiya dey?

Under Indian law, pesin wey miss for more dan seven years dem dey assume say im don die.

Why di police never close di case? e dey alive?