Only five of 1,500 victims lodged FIRs

Twenty three-year-old Sapna*, who got married six months ago, did not suspect any mischief when she received a “good morning” message from an unknown number on May 24. But, subsequent messages from the number over the next few weeks hit Sapna and her family hard.

Her family feared for their reputation and avoided going to the police until late last month. They tried everything possible to stop the man, later identified as Mohd. Khalid, from calling or sending messages.

“I thought that if I requested the caller, he would stop. But, he called me a ‘

budhiya ’ (old woman) and asked me to shut up,” said Sapna’s mother-in-law, Geeta*.

When Sapna’s husband warned Khalid against calling and sending messages, the latter spoke of his ‘affair’ with Sapna. “Khalid told my son to keep out of their affair as Sapna was his

jaanu (lover),” said Sapna’s father-in-law, Ramesh*.

Families of the victims, in fact, have recounted how Khalid wanted to speak to ‘young aunties’. “He would tell us that he would stop harassing Sapna if we gave him the number of an aunty. We tried to trick him by sharing the phone number of a police inspector,” said Sapna’s mother Reshma*.

But, Khalid was smart. He first saved the number and checked the profile picture of the person on messaging app WhatsApp. On seeing the picture of a man in uniform, he returned to harass Sapna with more zeal.

Families almost crumbled

According to Ramesh, had it not been for the good relationship the two families share since decades, Sapna and her husband would have separated. Sapna’s mother, in fact, was in tears as she thanked the police for “saving” her daughter’s marriage.

Sapna’s was not an isolated case. Investigators said they individually called up around 500 women who were harassed by Khalid. “Some of these women were staring at divorce because of these messages. Families were on the verge of crumbling,” said Vijay Singh, DCP (North-West).

Most victims were relieved to know that the police were after their harasser. Only five of Khalid’s 1,500 victims had got FIRs registered. Some others had submitted written complaints, while others called women helpline numbers, but to no avail.

*Names changed to protect privacy