Mangaluru Menace: Male Colleagues Harass Lecturer with 800 Lewd Messages, Spread Her Phone Number

A Mangaluru-based woman lecturer received more than 800 lewd messages after three of her male colleagues allegedly began targeting and harassing her. They tarnished her image by sticking pamphlets with obscene morphed pictures of the victim along with her mobile number and email id in public toilets across the city, officials say.

The three accused— the private college’s correspondent Prakash Shenoy (44), economics lecturer Pradeep Poojary (36), and another staffer Tharanath Shetty— had worked with the victim at the Bantwal private college earlier. They allegedly even addressed malicious letters to her colleagues and family.

After three months of investigation, the accused were tracked and arrested by the Mangaluru police. Sources say that four years ago, the victim had sought deputation to another college in Mangaluru after differences cropped up between her and the management.

But around December last year, the victim began getting unwanted calls from people across cities including Sullia, Sampaje, Subramanya, Madikeri, Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru, Mudigere, Balehennur, NR Pura, and Shivamogga.

Between November 12 and December 31, several of her fellow lecturers and officials from various colleges and the department of collegiate education also received these indecent messages and warned her about them. Soon, open postcards, inland letters, and emails were being addressed to the victim’s relatives and circulating amongst locals in the coastal city.

Unable to bear the harassment, the victim, a 58-year-old Assistant Professor and Kannada author, filed a police complaint. However, the accused allegedly circulated her phone number and she began receiving lewd phone calls and messages.

Mangaluru police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that they have managed to track down the main accused and have found crucial evidence on their cellphones. Authorities have begun analysing CCTV footage across bus stations where the accused claimed to have stuck handbills.

“She received more than 800 calls in ten days and at one point the victim was so upset that she had even contemplated suicide,” said a female police officer who did not want to be named. The police are still tracing other co-conspirators who may have facilitated the three accused in other cities.

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