Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast
She Got Catfished For 9 Years - The Kirat Assi story
21 Mar 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.
Full Episode
So this radio host gets catfished by her fiance for almost 10 years. Now her name is Kirat and she's in her 30s and she's a radio host living in London. And one day in 2009, her cousin connects her with this guy on Facebook. His name's Bobby and Bobby's a cardiologist and he allegedly lives in the area.
And so Karat and Bobby, they start messaging back and forth, and Karat does not think he is fine, as they are both currently in a relationship with someone else. So instead, they become friends on Facebook. But then one night, Karat'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 gonna 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 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 missed you so much today, sweets. So much. I really hope you're not too down.
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