*Warning: Contains spoilers for Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare*
Netflix’s new documentary Sweet Bobby tells the story of a woman who became embroiled in what is thought to be the UK’s longest-running catfishing case, which spanned just shy of a decade.
It follows the story of London-based radio host Kirat Assi, who struck up a friendship with a cardiologist named Bobby Jandu on Facebook. They both appeared to run in the same circles within London’s Sikh community and even had a vouched-for mutual connection in common in the form of Kirat’s cousin, Simran Bhogal, meaning alarm bells failed to ring for Kirat.
Eventually, she and Bobby would get engaged without ever meeting face-to-face. However, after Bobby’s repeated promises to meet his fiancée in the flesh fell through, Kirat took matters into her own hands and hired a private investigator to discover her beau’s real address.
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Netflix)
When she showed up, the man that answered looked exactly like the Bobby she had chatted to online, but had no idea who she was. When Bobby, fearing for his family, threatened to involve the police, the truth finally came to light.
It emerged that the person behind the Bobby profile was actually Kirat’s own cousin Simran. According to the Netflix documentary, she created a network of 60 Facebook accounts to lend authenticity to her catfishing scam, which were a mix of real identities and fake ones.
Bobby Jandu was one of those real people, with his account duplicated by Simran as she facilitated an online relationship with her cousin spanning nine years between 2009 and 2018. So who is the real Bobby, and where is he now?
Where is Bobby Jandu now?
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Netflix)
As referenced in the documentary, Kirat actually met the real Bobby just months into her online relationship with the fake one. She bumped into him while on a friend’s hen do, approaching him to chat. When he didn’t recognise her, she attributed his confusion to alcohol coupled with a loud nightclub.
The real Bobby indeed resides in Brighton, which explains how the pair bumped into each other years ago. He currently works as a dental surgeon – not as a cardiologist – and regularly posts updates on his Instagram of successful procedures carried out on his clients.
He is married with two children. His wife Sanj Jandu also had her identity used in the catfishing scam. The real Sanj is an author and wrote the children’s book An Adventure A Day which shows “how a disabled child can live a normal life,” according to the blurb. Sanj says the story is “loosely” based on her own children.
Simran does not appear in the film, but a statement issued to Netflix on her behalf stresses that “she considers it a private matter and strongly objects to what she describes as numerous unfounded and damaging accusations.”
Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare is now streaming on Netflix
This post was originally published on here
