Daijiworld Media Network (SR)

London, May17: A 28-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to 29 months in jail in the UK for stalking a woman over a period of 18 months.

Isleworth Crown Court in London on Wednesday convicted Rohit Sharma on charges of stalking, harassment and failing to appear in court. He will be deported back to India at the end of his sentence.

Detective Constable Nicola Kerry from the Metropolitan Police West Area Command Unit led the investigation and said "Stalking and harassment has a devastating impact on the lives of those targeted. There is intrusion into the victim's life, and they are left to feel vulnerable, distressed and threatened."

"Sharma was incessant in his pursuit of his victim. He would phone her up to 40 times a day and use around 15 different numbers to contact her, making it near impossible to block his calls, and would also get friends and relatives to contact her on his behalf," she said as per the PTI source.

Met Police said the man has been stalking the victim since she served him in a shop in Wembley, north-west London, in November 2017. On the same day, after their interaction, Sharma returned to the shop with his father and asked her to marry him. To avoid his trouble, the victim switched her jobs, but Sharma found out where she worked and somehow managed to get her phone number. He started sending her multiple messages via phone, text and social media.

The victim approached police in February 2018 and Sharma was issued with a harassment warning. However, Sharma continued his campaign of stalking and harassment by calling her 40 times a day and watching her at her place of work. In July 2018, Sharma was charged with harassment but after being bailed from court he continued to pursue his victim. He failed to attend a court hearing in November 2018 and was circulated as wanted by police.

As per PTI source, the Met police said "Sharma's stalking continued persistently to such a point that the victim quit her job and moved away from the area in an attempt to get away from him. However, this only seemed to fuel his campaign and he systematically began contacting people who knew the victim, trying to find out where she had gone."

The police then arrested Sharma in April 2019 following intelligence linked him to an address in Wembley. He was subsequently charged and was left with little option but to plead guilty at court.

The victim, in her statement, said "This whole experience has completely shattered my nerves, I have gone from being a confident young woman to constantly feeling scared and been on edge. I have no desire to socialise or meet new people, which has really taken its toll and ruined the university experience I had always envisioned.

"I cannot understand why this male became so obsessed with me. It is so unfair and completely undeserved. I just want him to realise what he has done and to know that he cannot do this to me or anyone else. I now want to move on knowing that he is locked away and cannot harm or hurt anyone else like he has done to me. The victim has been left devastated by Sharma's actions and I can only hope that his imprisonment offers some form of respite for her. She has shown immense bravery in reporting him to police and supporting this court case," added detective constable Kerry, as per PTI source.

Sharma was handed down a sentence of 22-month imprisonment for stalking, six months for harassment, and one month for failing to appear at court.