'I believed him like my son, never thought he would cheat me', Sukumariyamma about how Kannan snatched first prize-winning lottery from her

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: "I believed him like a son. That is why I gave him the ticket when he gave me Rs 1200 saying that I won the prize. I did not think that he was cheating me," Sukumariyamma said as she described how a lottery seller snatched the first prize-winning lottery from her by lying to her.

Kalliyoor native Sukumariyamma (72) earns her daily bread by selling hats in front of the Napier Museum in Thiruvananthapuram. Peroorkada native Kannan (45), the lottery seller arrested by the police, is in remand.

On May 14, Sukumariyamma purchased 12 same-numbered tickets from various series of Fifty Fifty Lottery. The draw was on the 15th. Kannan knew that Sukumariyamma was abandoned by her husband and that she did not know how to read and write.

"I too used to sell lottery before. Kannan came to me saying that I won prizes of Rs 500 each. However, when the person nearby looked at the result, he did not see my ticket number in the list of winners. Kannan immediately took the tickets from me, saying that I won a total of Rs 1200 (Rs 100 for each ticket). He then gave me Rs 500 and new lotteries for Rs 700. I later became suspicious after I learned that Kannan distributed sweets among the vendors in Palayam that night saying that he won the first prize," Sukumariyamma said.

"Kannan told everyone that he got the first prize-winning ticket after a woman returned it to him saying that she did not have enough money to buy it. When I checked the lottery result, I found that it was my ticket with the number FG 348822 that won the first prize! Following this, I filed a complaint with the police," Sukumariyamma said.

Although Sukumariyamma hails from Kalliyoor, she now lives in a rented house near the Police Headquarters in Vazhuthacaud. She has two children: Deepa and Deepu.

Approached court

Sukumariyamma has approached the Vanchiyoor court demanding that the prize money be made available to her. The police have blocked further action on the ticket produced by Kannan at the Bank of Baroda. The Museum police said that the ticket would be kept in the bank till the court issued an order. Although Sukumariyamma approached the Lottery Department with a complaint, the officials said that they cannot not do anything without a court order.