Nagpur: In a bizarre theft driven by a romantic motive, Jaripatka police have apprehended a woman for allegedly stealing diamond-studded rings from her employer’s house to gift her boyfriend ahead of their planned marriage.

The accused has been identified as Maria Suryarao Sukka, a native of West Bengal, who had been working as a babysitter at the residence of Nupur Agrawal in Kadbi Square for the past year. Her accomplice and lover, Pawan Bhaskar Badgujar, hails from Nashik.

According to police, on May 17, Nupur and her family had travelled to their native place, leaving Maria in charge of their child for three days. During her stay, Maria reportedly admired a diamond ring belonging to Nupur and expressed her desire to wear a similar one for her own wedding. When she asked Nupur for a loan of ₹50,000 and was denied, Maria allegedly decided to steal the jewellery.

On the night of May 18, Maria is believed to have stolen two diamond-studded gold rings from the dressing table while the family was asleep. She fled the house immediately after the theft.

The crime came to light the next morning. Upon checking CCTV footage, Maria was seen stealing the rings. Following a complaint lodged by Nupur at the Jaripatka Police Station, police launched an investigation and traced Maria to her native village in West Bengal.

She was subsequently apprehended and during questioning, admitted to gifting the stolen rings to her boyfriend Pawan. Police later arrested Pawan in Nashik and recovered both rings from his possession.

Further investigation is underway.