DJ Kirat Assi spent 10 years of her life invested heavily in a long-distance relationship with a cardiac surgeon named Bobby. However, Assi was left devastated after learning that her whole relationship was a sham and in reality, it was her cousin Simran behind Bobby's online identity. Disappointed and heartbroken, Assi is now calling for catfishing to be criminalized.
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Former radio DJ Kirat Assi, from London, was catfished by her cousin for more than 10 years and now calls for it to be made a criminal offense.
Assi began chatting to a supposed cardiologist named Bobby on Facebook back in 2009. She only knew Bobby from distance through the Sikh community and over the years their online messaging evolved into a long-distance relationship.
However, it turned out the person she'd been messaging throughout her thirties wasn't Bobby - it was, in fact, Simran Bhogal, her younger cousin.
Credit: Facebook/Desi Radio UK
Now suffering immeasurable deception by her own blood relative, Assi is calling for catfishing - whereby people are lured into relationships through fictional identities - to be made into a specific criminal offence.
Talking to The Sunday Times, she said: "I think it might serve as a deterrent for a lot of people to know that if you're caught then immediately it's a crime, just like driving with a mobile in your hand.
"It would be an immediate deterrent, so many people will still do it but some people will think, 'I'm just not risking it.'"
Credit: Facebook/Desi Radio UK
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Additionally, Assi says that she prefers not to use the term 'catfish' as it undermines the pain it has caused her.
She explained: "I call it online entrapment. I wasn't on a dating site, I'm private online.
"The connotations associated with the term catfishing are that it's fun. This impacted my health, my family, friends, social life, my radio work, my career, absolutely everything."
The most damage came from the fact that Simran went to great lengths to make herself real and had made some 50 fake profiles and connected them together to create elaborate stories and dynamics that never really existed.
As if this isn't messed up enough, Simran even killed off Bobby at one point, before bringing him back to life and putting him into witness protection.
Credit: Facebook/Desi Radio UK
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All these dramatics had a huge impact on Assi's life who ended up losing weight and even had to sign off work due to stress.
After finally uncovering the bizarre deceit, she went to the police but said her story wasn't taken seriously.
She eventually brought a civil action against her cousin in 2020, which was settled out of court.
Credit: Facebook/Desi Radio UK
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The bizarre incident is actually the subject of a six-part podcast, Sweet Bobby.
Assi said: "She has taken ten years of my life from me, years I will not get back.
"In that time I could have met someone real, had a baby. I lost my friends, my job, my savings.
"I opened up to him - her - telling him things about my hopes, dreams, my childhood, that I'd never tell anyone. I feel violated."
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