A prolific lover with four wives, seven fiancées
and five girlfriends has set Austria's record for
bigamy.Sonko Tijan was finally caught in a
honey trap at Vienna Airport after two of his
wives realised they were married to the same
man and complained to police.
The seducer had picked up women all across
the country, using them for room and board
whenever he was nearby and borrowing money
from them which he never returned.
His downfall came after he met Sonja Maier,
who believed she had found love at first sight
when she was swept off her feet by Tijan after
meeting him in a bar.
The 28-year-old from Gambia told her he felt
the same, and after a whirlwind romance - and
against the advice of her family - they were
married a month later.
According to Dailymail , after a year of happy
marriage she was pregnant and browsing
Facebook when she happened across somebody
with the same surname and a strikingly
similar-looking husband.
Curious, the delved into the woman's profile.
Then she realised this woman's husband was
not only similar looking, but actually identical.
The fact he had the same surname as her own
spouse convinced her something was wrong.
'I thought that either he had a twin I never
knew about or he was cheating on me,' she
said.
Ms Maier got in touch with the woman to
compare notes. Soon they realised that when
he was with one of them, he was never with the
other, and together they made a complaint to
police after he vanished when they confronted
him.
That complaint led to the unravelling of a
web of intrigue that has so far revealed 16
different women all of whom believed they
were in an exclusive relationship with Tijan,
including three who were married to him.
The youngest of his women was 22, and the
oldest 44; there is also another woman he is
married to in his home country, where he
also has children.Tijan used the women to
provide him with a place to stay and food
whenever he was in the area, and also
borrowed tens of thousands of euros
promising to pay it back later. He never
did.Some also complained he had taken
their jewellery to use as a security on loans
he needed. And if a woman became too
demanding on his time or for her money
back, she suddenly found that he had
vanished.
Police have now found that he kept a network
of women across Austria from the western
state of Vorarleberg to the capital Vienna. As
well as the 15 active lovers, they believe there
were many others who he used, then dumped.
Police have also found four children Tijan has
fathered with different women in Austra. Two
of his current girlfriends were pregnant.
Detective Patrick Maierhofer, who has made
an appeal for other women to come forward,
said:
'He always used the same tactics. He would
look at women in bars and was always
charming and attentive.
'He would also fascinate them with fanciful
stories about his homeland in Africa and
how he had fled horrific wars leaving his
family behind - and later he would ask for
financial assistance for them.'
He went under various names and we have
released his picture at some of his names in
the hope that we can contact other victims.
'They included the names Sonko Tijan,
Bojang Tijan and Crang Junior.
'He claimed the money was for business
ventures to help his family in Gambia. We
have found that he is actually also married
to a woman in Gambia where he also has a
family.'
Police put out an arrest warrant for him and
eventually tracked him down using Facebook
after discovering he was on the hunt for fresh
victims. Officers arranged for a honey trap
with the cooperation of a young woman he had
been communicating with online to persuade
her to lend him more money.
In reality though she was working with police
and he was arrested .
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