Young Woman Killed After Multiple Police Reports
A female dentist in her twenties was killed in Oslo after contacting police regarding harassment from a former partner.
Young Woman Killed After Multiple Police Reports
A female dentist in her twenties was killed in the Oslo region, despite having approached authorities multiple times regarding a former partner.
Rahavy Varatharajan, who was in her late twenties, had her own home and worked as a dentist. She met a man two years older than her in autumn 2022 via a dating service. Both had backgrounds in the Tamil community in the capital, but they had different lifestyles. Whilst she lived modestly, he presented himself with a luxury car and expensive branded clothing.
The relationship quickly became strained. The man pressured her to drink and have sex, which she refused. She was clear about her boundaries and attempted to end the relationship several times.
At Easter 2023, she finally said goodbye. She went to his home, returned items he had given her, and then sent him a message stating that all contact should cease. She blocked him on all platforms.
That did not stop the man. He visited her workplace, left a note on her car, and called from unknown numbers over 20 times. He also reached out to her circle of acquaintances. Rahavy became increasingly anxious and felt pursued.
Towards the end of April 2023, she attended Stovner police station. She filed a formal complaint in which she described the situation as "psychological terror" and explained that she felt unsafe around the clock. The same day, the case was left without investigation, but a restraining order was issued prohibiting the man from contacting or visiting her.
In police internal documents, it was noted that the individual appeared to be "quite an intense type". Reference was also made to an earlier court case from 2017, in which the same man had received 90 days in prison for harassing an ex-partner over a whole year, sharing private images of her, and sending hundreds of demeaning messages.
The man's history in police systems stretched back to 2008. Already as a teenager, he was reported for sending unwanted messages to girls his own age and following them. Later, several similar complaints came in, but most were dismissed due to lack of resources.
The authorities have since admitted that they underestimated the threat to Rahavy. They state that old cases were not automatically visible in their computer systems and had to be searched for manually one by one.
Source: VG
Source: Google News NO — Oslo