Bollywood starlet Geeta Basra is being stalked by a young man for the past six months and even though she has taken the matters to the police, there hasn't been much respite.
Though the 26-year-old actress hasn't seen this man in person, she is being constantly harassed through phone calls and SMSs, something which is making it hard for Geeta to even "find breathing space" for herself.
The actress had as many as 100 texts in her phone mailbox on a single day with dozens of calls from the stalker.
"It is all getting really sickening now and it was about time I took the matter in my hands," said Geeta who made her presence felt in Bollywood with Dil Diya Hai followed by The Train (both with Emraan Hashmi).
"There are fans and followers and there is nothing wrong at all if they try to approach you, strike a small conversation and give you your space. However, this particular fan has crossed all limits and has now driven me to a point where a strict action has to be taken against him," she told PTI.
Calling himself Akshay, this obsessed fan started making phone calls to Geeta six months back. However, once Geeta got a hint that the fan was crossing the lines of being just a fan/follower, she started keeping her distance and avoided his calls.
"This is when this guy started harassing me through SMSs. He started texting me with messages like 'Yeh nan samajhe ki main aapko tang kar raha hoon. Agar aap call pick karte toh main khush hota. Maine tumse pyaar kiya hai, koyi drama nahi chal raha, samjhi (Don't think that I am trying to harass you. If you would have picked my call, I would have been happy. I love you and and it is no drama)'.
"When I didn't respond to him at all, the frequency only increased rather than going down," says Geeta approached the police after the matter went out of her control. The police then called the fan on the number from which he was sending SMSs to Geeta.
On being warned, he did relent for a while. However, it was back to square one soon after and the stalking continued.
"As it happened, he started calling from different numbers. He had six of them and kept using them on rotational basis. He was never threatening but always said that he would kill himself if I didn't pick his call or respond to him.
"Really, I had no right reasons to care and kept ignoring him. This is where things took a turn for worse as one fine day he announced loud and clear that he was taking his life," Geeta remembers the horrific days gone by.
Photograph: Rajesh Karkera
