Just to avail free ride, a man from Karnataka district, India was caught masquerading as a woman by donning a burqa.
The man, identified as Veerabhadraiah Mathapati, had clocked himself in a burqa (veil), apparently to pose as a woman and get a free bus ticket under the Shakti Yojana scheme of the Karnataka government.
According to Indian media reports, bystanders got suspicious after they noticed Veerabhadraiah sitting alone at the bus stop. Some people approached and upon being exposed for his fraud, Veerabhadraiah claimed that he had donned the burqa to help with begging as it made him appear more sympathetic.
ಕೆಎಸ್ಆರ್ಟಿಸಿ ಬಸ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಉಚಿತ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಬುರ್ಖಾ ಧರಿಸಿ ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಮಾಡಿದ ವಿಜಯಪುರದ ವೀರಭದ್ರಯ್ಯ. ಆದ್ರೆ, ಬುರ್ಖಾ ಧರಿಸಿದ್ದ ಉದ್ದೇಶವೇ ಬೇರೆ ಎಂದ..#Karnataka #ShaktiScheme #Congressguarantee #FreeBusTravel #ManwearingBurqa #Burqa pic.twitter.com/yWy5NvcNEH
— ಸತೀಶ್ ಕಂದಗಲ್ ಪುರ (@sathisho2555) July 6, 2023
However, the crowd wasn’t fooled by Veerabhadraiah’s absurd explanation and suspected that he had disguised himself as a woman in an attempt to get a free bus ride under Siddaramaiah government’s Shakti Yojana—a scheme launched on June 11 under which women in the state are eligible for free bus rides within Karnataka.
The man was allegedly also carrying a woman’s Aadhaar card which he reportedly intended to present as proof of his forged identity, the report said.
