Kochi: Sreelakshmi Satheesh, a CEO of an educational consultancy firm in Kerala and a motivational speaker, had a harrowing experience when she attended a call from an unknown number.
“What is your rate? Will Rs 3,000 do? Shall I book a hotel room?” These were the questions put her by the caller, according to a report in India Today.
To make it worse, her phone then continued to ring a number of times, with unknown numbers calling in. When she chose not to attend the calls, text messages poured in, asking her for her ‘rate.’ Sreelakshmi eventually switched her phone off, and by this time the ‘rate’ had reached Rs 25,000.
After over an hour, Sreelakshmi decided to act. She switched on her phone, dialed one of the numbers from which she had got a call earlier, and spoke to the man who answered. While he seemed very enthusiastic in the beginning, the man began to beg for forgiveness after Sreelakshmi told him about her work profile.
The report says that the man got her number from a Whatsapp group. Another individual had shared this number on the Whatsapp group, referring to her as a ‘super item’.
More shocking was the fact that the man who she called was an acquaintance of hers. He was also the regional secretary of the youth wing of a national party. After she came to know this, Sreelakshmi decided to approach the police.
Party workers attempted to stop Sreelakshmi from doing so, apologising to her and offering to settle the matter outside court. However, she demanded that the man be sacked from the party.
However, after receiving no response until 8 pm on Thursday, Sreelakshmi decided to file an FIR.
When the father of the youth approached Sreelakshmi to beg for forgiveness and request her not to file a case, she asked the old man to tell his son to donate Rs 25,000 to any charitable organisation and produce the bill as proof.
The man did so, and produced a receipt as proof.
But unable to control her anger, Sreelakshmi then narrated the entire episode in a Facebook post which went viral. While she got much praise for teacher the ‘future leader’ a lesson, some users also questioned the authenticity of her claims.
“I didn't make this Facebook post to gain publicity. I didn't expect it to go viral either," Sreelakshmi later told a local daily. "Since the fellow is a politician, I was also apprehensive about how he would reach. A legal fight would also take considerable time to conclude. That is when I decided to use a popular social media network to unmask the man's character," she said.
