This Indian-origin woman was catfished for 9 years — by her cousin

Assi’s ordeal was first documented in the true-crime podcast “Sweet Bobby,” hosted by investigative journalist Alexi Mostrous in 2022. Now, Netflix will delve deeper into this extraordinary tale, releasing a documentary series on October 16, 2024.

Who is Harkirat Assi, and what has happened to her?

Despite the emotional turmoil she endured, Harkirat Assi, a successful 43-year-old marketer and radio host from West London, has chosen to use her experience to empower others. Through her website (kiratassi.co.uk), she shares the details of her cousin’s eight-year catfishing scheme. This elaborate manipulation involved over 50 fabricated online personas, some even posing as real-life acquaintances, to control and exploit Assi.

Her ordeal, encompassing emotional abuse, catfishing, identity theft, and harassment, is chronicled not only on her website but also in the podcast. By sharing her story, Assi aims to raise awareness and provide resources for individuals who have faced similar online deceptions.

Assi trusted Bhogal deeply and regularly shared intimate details of her relationship with her. (Pexels)

Assi described the manipulation she experienced as highly sophisticated, intricate, and massive, making it difficult for her to comprehend or explain fully. She felt silenced, especially when even the police struggled to respond to her ordeal.

In the podcast, Assi recounted meeting a man named Bobby Jandu through social media, with whom she gradually developed a friendship. Over time, their relationship deepened, and they began speaking on the phone daily. She shared that their conversations occasionally became sexual.

Bobby, who claimed to live in Australia, would describe being in extreme situations, such as being shot or suffering from a brain tumor. As the relationship progressed, Assi noticed Bobby becoming increasingly controlling and coercive, which began to take a toll on her mental and physical health, causing immense stress. Remarkably, despite the intensity of their connection, she had never met Bobby in person or even video-called him.

Frustrated with the situation, Assi decided to hire a detective to unmask Bobby Jandu’s true identity, which led her to a man living in Brighton.

After this shocking discovery and the subsequent turmoil, she confided in her cousin, Simran Bhogal, and decided to report the deception to the police. “I told them, ‘I’m scared; I want something on record just in case something happens,’” Assi told The Guardian in a 2022 interview. Bhogal, a close confidante throughout the ordeal, was present during the police report and corroborated her account.

The following day, Bhogal confessed to the scam. “She admitted, ‘It was me, I was Bobby, I was all of them,’” revealed Assi.

Assi trusted Bhogal deeply and regularly shared intimate details of her relationship with her.

“It was a slow destruction of everything I had. Bobby targeted every part of my life – my career, my dreams, my hopes, my relationship with family, with friends, my studies,” Assi said in the same interview. “I could have met someone real, had a baby during that time. But the other impact has been on my mental and physical health.”

According to Assi’s website, she later filed a civil case against her cousin, which was eventually settled after Bhogal issued a private apology.