(Image source from: NDTV.com)

An Indian origin man in the United Kingdom has been jailed for 29 months for stalking a woman for 18 months after she accompanied him just once in a store in London.

The 28-year-old Rohit Sharma was jailed at Isleworth Crown Court in London on Wednesday after pleading guilty to harassment, stalking, and failing to appear in court.

"Stalking and harassment have a devastating impact on the lives of those targeted. There is an intrusion into the victim's life, and they are left to feel vulnerable, distressed and threatened," said Detective Constable Nicola Kerry from the Metropolitan Police West Area Command Unit, who led the investigation.

"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," she said.

The man started stalking his victim, aged in her 20s, after she served him in a shop in Wembley, north-west London, in November 2017. After that short interaction, Sharma came back later that same day with his father and asked her to marry him.

Though the victim changed jobs four days later, Sharma found out where she worked and managed to obtain her phone number.

His troublesome behavior intensified and he bombarded the victim with multiple messages via text, phone, and social media, the Met Police said.

In February 2018, Sharma was issued with a harassment warning after the victim reported him to police.

However, the court was told that this did not deter him and his stalking and harassment continued. The victim continued to receive up to 40 calls a day and continually watching her at her workplace.

Sharma was charged with harassment in July 2018 but after being bailed from the court he continued to pursue his victim. He even failed to attend a court hearing in November 2018 and was circulated as wanted by police.

"Sharma's stalking continued persistently to such a point that the victim quit her job and moved away from the area in an attempt to get away from him. However, this only seemed to fuel his campaign and he systematically began contacting people who knew the victim, trying to find out where she had gone," the Met Police said.

Sharma was arrested in April 2019 after intelligence linked him to an address in Wembley. He was subsequently charged and, due to the weight of evidence against him, was left with little option but to plead guilty at court.

In a statement, the unnamed victim said: "This whole experience has completely shattered my nerves, I have gone from being a confident young woman to constantly feeling scared and on edge. I have no desire to socialize 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 realize 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 as he has done to me."

"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," added detective constable Kerry.

Sharma was sentenced to 22-months imprisonment for stalking, one month for failing to appear at court, and six months for harassment. Sharma will be deported back to India at the end of his sentence.

By Sowmya Sangam