Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - She Got Catfished For 9 Years - The Kirat Assi story

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

The Kirat Assi case is a disturbing example of digital deception, where Assi was the victim of an elaborate catfishing scheme that lasted nearly a decade. A family friend, Simran Bhogal, created a web of fake online identities, including a romantic relationship with a fictional man, to manipulate and control Kirat's life.

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as they are both currently in a relationship with someone else. So instead, they become friends on Facebook. But then, one night, Kirat's out at a bachelorette party, and suddenly, boom, she sees Bobby across the room. And she's all drunk, and she goes up to him like, Bobby! And he nods like, sup? I mean, it's 2 a.m., it's crowded, the music's super loud, so they don't really talk.

However, they do keep talking online through Facebook, And at some point, Bobby tells her he's going to Kenya to visit some family, and he leaves and he goes to Kenya. Sometime later, Karat's at work, and she gets a phone call, and it's her cousin. You know, the cousin who connected her online with Bobby, we'll just call her cousin. And cousin is a little younger than Karat, but they're close friends. And so cousin is on the phone, and she's freaking out, like, you know, Bobby's in Kenya, and he's been shot, and it's bad, and I don't know if he's going to make it. And Karat's like, oh no, he's been shot? That sucks.

And you know, she's sad and all, but honestly, she doesn't really know him that well. But then, Bobby dies. And so cousin breaks this news to Karat. And I guess Karat's like, oh, that's a bummer. But then, a few months later, cousin hits up Karat again and is like, actually we were lied to. Bobby isn't dead. He's actually hiding out in New York City. I guess he's in witness protection for some reason.

And so Karat hits Bobby up on Facebook and they start talking again. And you know, he can't tell her much about what happened to him because he's still in the hospital from being shot and also he's in witness protection. Regardless, they start chatting a lot about a lot of things. He tells her he just got divorced and that's been really hard on him. He tells her he's been having all sorts of health issues like stroke and blood clots. And over time, they grow really close. They chat every day online. She even chats with his medical team and she chats with his ex-wife, she chats with his sisters and his friends on Facebook. And this goes on for years. Then one day in 2015, everything changes. Because old Bobby, he drops a bomb on her.

He tells her that he's always loved her. And Karat tells him that she loves him. And so pretty quickly, they're in a full-blown relationship. And now they're talking all the time and they're sending each other's sweet messages all the time. Well, actually Bobby's vocal cords are damaged because of the stroke. He's paralyzed on one side so he doesn't talk. He actually texts her and Karat replies to him with audio messages. I love you. I miss you so much today, sweets. So much. I really hope you're not too down. And so a year goes by and this long distance relationship is still going strong. Like they're still chatting every day. But now they'll do Skype calls. But his vocal cords are still damaged so he kind of has to talk in a whisper.

But they do talk. But not only that, at one point, he proposes to her through Facebook Messenger. How romantic. And then like a dozen or so of Bobby's friends are hitting her up on Facebook, congratulating her. And Bobby and Karata are like picking out wedding venues and outfits and they're looking at engagement rings online together. I guess they're like just sending links back and forth to each other. I mean, shit is getting pretty serious between them. However, unfortunately, Karat is starting to get a little frustrated with Bobby.

Because he keeps saying he'll come visit her at some point in London. However, every single time, he has to suddenly cancel his trip last minute. Like, oh, witness protection is moving me again, or, oh, I had another stroke. And to make it worse, he's getting a bit controlling. Like he's jealous and he's constantly checking in, making Karat video chat with him to see where she is. But of course he never turns his camera on. And so this isn't going quite as well as she had wanted. But then, one day, she gets a little bit of hope.

Because finally, Bobby hits her up, and he's like, Sugar Plum, I'm coming to London. And Karat's like, oh, snap, I finally get to see him in person. And she's all excited and she's so nervous. Oh my God, what is she going to wear? She's following his flight tracker online to see when his plane lands. However, unfortunately, in true Bobby fashion, right before they're supposed to meet, he hits her up and he tells her

that he can't make it. And of course, this makes Kiraat really upset and she lets him know. Broken my heart, broken my shattered my dreams. I thought he loved me. I love you, I love you, but I can't do this. Now at some point, she's starting to feel like something's not right about all this. Like he's always canceling his visits at the last minute. I mean, she's been chatting with him online for nine years at this point. And the only time she's ever met him in person was that one night at the Bachelorette party all those years ago. So like what is his deal? Something feels off. So she goes and she hires a private investigator to look into Bobby. And private investigator must have some serious skills because pretty quickly, boom, he finds that Bobby actually has a

house. And oh, he's not living in New York City in witness protection. he actually lives in England about an hour away from her in Brighton. And Karat is pissed. She's like, bro's been living an hour away from me this whole time and lying about it? Oh, hell no. And she drives the fuck over to his house, ready to confront him. And so she gets there and she knocks on the door. And guess who answers?

Bobby's wife. He's married. Oh, but it gets worse. Karat tells this woman, I want to talk to Bobby. So Bobby comes out and Karat's like, why did you lie to me? And Bobby looks at her and he's like, I don't even know who you are. And so poor Karat drives home in shame. And she's crying and she calls her cousin and her cousin tries to console her.

But it's no use. She's sad. She's confused as hell. What the hell is going on? Bobby's married? Like, is she ever going to find out the truth? Until. The next day, Karat is chilling at home, and she hears a car pull up outside.

She opens her front door and it's cousin. And that is when cousin drops a bomb on her. And this is probably the weirdest bomb anyone has ever dropped on anyone ever. So cousin has been catfishing Karat this whole time. And if you're confused, let's rewind to the beginning. One day in 2009, cousin, I guess she gets bored and decides to make. a fake Facebook account, a Facebook account of a guy named Bobby. But here's the thing, Bobby is actually a real guy in the area.

He just has no idea someone made a fake Facebook account of him. And so Cousin, posing as fake Bobby, she chats with Karat online for years. They message, they have Skype calls. She makes up stories about how she got shot and how she got put in the witness protection program. And they would talk through Skype and cousin would disguise her voice by just like, by just like talking in a whisper. And cousin got Karat to fall in love with her. Well, fall in love with the fake Bobby.

I mean, they made wedding plans. Not only that, cousin made up to 60 fake Facebook profiles of fake Bobby's friends and family in order to fool Karat. It's all so elaborate and just weird. And just by sheer coincidence, Kirat went out to that bachelorette party all those years ago and just happened to see the real Bobby out having a good time. That's why he didn't really talk to her that night. He didn't know her.

And that's also why when Karat showed up to the real Bobby's house, he's like, I don't even know who you are. Because he doesn't. He's never met her. Now, why is Karat's own cousin catfishing her and getting into a romantic relationship with her? Unfortunately, we don't know. Cousin never comes forward and gives a valid explanation, so we're just like, I don't know. However, Karat does later file a lawsuit against her for all of this, and they end up settling out of court and cousin has to pay her an undisclosed amount. So, I guess that's nice.