A disturbing case of stalking of women journalists by an anonymous letter writer has emerged with not less than 55 journalists from across the State complaining of receiving letters with explicit sexual content for years dating as far back as 2014.
The victims found common ground and realised that many of them were receiving similar letters, which they believe to be from the same person going by the content and handwriting, after one of the victims who had received over 10 letters since 2019 shared a Facebook post on the matter earlier this month.
“I decided to take up the matter as the last few letters were outrageous even by the writer’s standards and had graphical reference to rape and paedophilia. I am worried for the safety of children and women in his family and neighbourhood,” said Nileena Atholi, a Kozhikode-based sub-editor with an online publication who shared her trauma on social media and has registered a complaint at the Nadakkavu police station and the Social Justice Department. She had since then started a WhatsApp group of the stalking victims.
The letters written in Malayalam interspersed with English sentences gave the impression that the writer was a well educated person, she said. The letters are timed either on the appearance of a byline story or when the women concerned received awards. Another reporter based in Kozhikode traced the timing of letters to be coinciding with stories especially related to child sexual abuse.
Another Kochi-based senior woman journalist with a magazine had received 17 letters since 2016 and had even petitioned the District Police Chief (Kochi City) and the State Police Chief in 2018. The petition was forwarded to the Ernakulam North police who conducted a probe and approached the Postal Department in Palakkad after it was found that majority of the letters were being posted from that district. “However, the Postal Department reportedly shared its helplessness in tracing the origin of the letters. The case was closed after six months as no headway could be made. I have kept all the letters for evidence sake but have not opened the recent ones, the latest of which was received a fortnight back,” said the journalist on condition of anonymity.
Though letters were being posted mainly from Palakkad, there were ones from Ernakulam and Kottayam as well, Ms. Atholi said. Even some male reporters seem to have received similar letters though at least in one instance it appeared to be a case of the writer mistaking the reporter for a woman from his name.
