A police officer in the United Kingdom maintained a 19-year relationship with a woman by using a fake identity and had a child with her, reported the Guardian.

The officer hid his real name and profession from the woman and never made her aware that he used his fictitious identity on the birth certificate of his son.

The woman came to know about her partner’s real occupation after their engagement in 2020. He was revealed to be a police officer instead of a businessman, a sophisticated deception lasting almost two decades.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigates senior officers at Avon and Somerset, who know about the officer’s relationship since 2013.

However, they didn’t inform the woman that her fiancé, whom she believes to be a businessman, had been using his fake identity given to him for use in the covert police operation.

The woman’s relatives said that she was “a shadow of the person we used to know”.

Her sister told the Guardian that she was left broken after this and expresses suicidal thoughts, cries regularly and doesn’t sleep.

The incident destroyed the health of the woman’s father and the whole family was disturbed fully. They accused Avon and Somerset police of discouraging them from speaking press for three years.

A senior police officer said that if the public became aware of the 19-year relationship it would spark riots. However, the woman’s family believes this is an excuse to cover up the incident.

“While working in an undercover role, a former officer engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a member of the public using their pseudonym,” a spokesperson said.

“The member of the public has no connection with policing and until recently they were entirely unaware of their links to an undercover police officer. They played no role in, and were not connected to, the officer’s operational deployment.”