Kolkata school teacher harassed online for months by ex-student; complaint filed

KOLKATA: A school teacher residing in Karaya in south-east Kolkata is enduring a nightmare of online harassment from a former student who left school 13 years ago for the past six months, the accused escalating his online stalking from personal attacks to targeting her family, friends and colleagues across social media platforms.

The stalker, identified as one Krishnendu Banerjee, a class 12 student from 2013 at the teacher's former workplace, has been bombarding her with abusive messages from multiple Instagram and LinkedIn accounts.

What began as ignored taunts has now spread to her inner circle, with identical derogatory texts sent to relatives and co-workers. Blocking and reporting accounts fail as he swiftly switches to new ones, cops said.

According to the written complaint, the harassment intensified last week on the teacher's new Instagram account, after she left the old one for over a year.

"My old Instagram account has been dormant over a year-and-a-half now. Suddenly since last week he has again surfaced in my new account and has started a nuisance (he is using multiple accounts to send messages). This is going beyond me to my family and friends and everyone is getting affected. He is asking his friends to message me too and even threatening to attempt suicide if I do not unblock and respond," claimed the victim.

Banerjee, once on the victim's Facebook friend list, was first blocked years ago due to his stalking habits. The accused was unblocked by the victim in mid-2023 during an account cleanup, with the victim believing that her student had matured.

Brief cordial but essentially professional chats followed, where she offered calm advice on moving on from unrequited feelings and staying connected only professionally. But the accused did not finally heed, leading to re-blocking after offensive outbursts.

Now, the victim has claimed, the accused even ropes in friends to message her and issues suicide threats unless she responds. "This is ruining lives — mine and my loved ones. It must stop now," the teacher told the cops, attaching screenshots of vile messages, including brutal public demeaning on his Instagram profile.

On May 26, she filed a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in. Yet, the torment continues, with no visible action. Hence the victim lodged a case on Saturday.

Kolkata Police cyber wing sources confirmed receiving the complaint but declined details, citing an ongoing probe. "We prioritise such cases involving stalking and threats. Investigation underway," an officer said.

The victim has urged swift IP tracing and account suspensions. "Platforms like Instagram must act faster on repeat offenders," said cyber lawyer Bivas Chatterjee.