A 27-year-old woman, who had been pretending to be a lawyer for the past 2.5 years, fled from the Alappuzha (Aleppey) court in Kerala on Thursday after realising that her game of deceit was over.
As per reports, the accused woman has been identified as one Sessy Xavier. A resident of Ramankary in Kuttanad, Xavier managed to practice law for over 2 years without raising any suspicion. With the help of fake documents, she worked as a junior lawyer under a senior advocate in the Alappuzha court. The accused had even interned under the same lawyer by claiming to be a final-year law student. She even managed to become a member of the Aleppey Bar Association in March 2019 after working with it since March 2018.
During the said period, Xavier appeared in several cases before the court. She was also appointed as Advocate Commissioner in 25 cases. She contested in the Bar Association election in 2021 and was elected as the librarian. However, the case of deceit and fraud came to an end when the Bar Association received an anonymous letter on July 15. The letter claimed that Sessy Xavier did not have any law degree or enrollment certificate. During the probe, it was discovered that she had been practising law using the enrollment number of another advocate based in Thiruvananthapuram.
Bar council terminates membership of fake lawyer
It was also found that she never enrolled with the Kerala Bar Council. The woman had misled her friends and family into believing her concocted story. She had initially claimed to have studied law in Thiruvananthapuram but later maintained that she continued her law degree in Bengaluru. As such, the Bar Association immediately terminated her membership and notified the District Judge regarding the matter. Sessy Xavier did not respond to the notice sent by the Bar Association and failed to provide any explanation.
Police files case, accused absconds from court premises
The Bar Association also filed a complaint with the local police, wherein it alleged that the accused stole books and rare documents as a librarian. It is believed that the woman had destroyed her fake certificates before absconding from the law enforcement authorities. The police have registered a case against Sessy Xavier under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 417 (cheating), 419 (cheating by personation), and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property). The cops have also pressed charges for theft.
On Thursday (July 22), the accused reached the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I in Alappuzha with an intention to surrender. Reportedly, she hoped to seek bail before the Court. However, on realising that a First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged against her for non-bailable offences, she fled through the backdoor with the help of some unidentified advocates. Sessy Xavier is still on the run from law enforcement and the cops are yet to trace her down.
