Indian national jailed for stalking woman he met in a shop

AN INDIAN national has been jailed for a total of 29 months for stalking and harassing a woman for 18 months.

Rohit Sharma, 28, was jailed at Isleworth Crown Court on Wednesday (15) after pleading guilty to stalking, harassment and failing to appear at court.

Sharma began stalking his victim, who was aged in her 20s, following a brief encounter in a shop in Wembley in November 2017. He returned to the shop the same day and asked her to marry him.

The woman, in her 20s, refused, and quit her job four days later. But Sharma traced her to her new workplace and continued to bombard her with text messages and calls.

He is believed to have contacted her up to 40 times a day from 15 different numbers.

In February last year, the victim reported Sharma to police and he was issued with an harassment warning. Sharma was formally charged with harassment in July, but he continued to pursue the victim.

He continued his campaign even after the victim quit her job and left the area.

Sharma systematically began contacting people who knew the victim, trying to find out where she had gone.

Police officers declared Sharma wanted after he failed to attend a court hearing on 5 November 2018 and he was arrested in April 2019.

Sentencing him on Thursday, a judge ordered that Sharma be  considered for deportation on the completion of his prison sentence.

“This whole experience has completely shattered my nerves, I have gone from being a confident young woman to constantly feeling scared and on edge,” the victim said in a statement. “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.”

Detective Constable Nicola Kerry, who led the investigation, said the victim has been left "devastated" by Sharma's actions.

“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," said Kerry.

“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.”