Revelations
I'd got used to keeping an eye on Souren. This was primarily for reasons
of personal safety. I'd been threatened several times, hints had been
dropped about my family and friends - and I'd had to live with the prospect
that somewhere out there was this crazed individual who might suddenly
turn up almost anywhere...and I'd have no idea what her state of mind
might be at that point.
It was even suggested - and I won't say by whom - that a reasonable
response in such a situation would be to get the first punch in and
lay her out, then call the police.
If I subsequently need to produce evidence as to the mitigating circumstances
that led me to this course of action it would probably require at least
two people to carry the documents into court.
I also needed to keep track of her libellous statements, collecting
them for such times where legal action was possible. This is, in some
ways, the paradox of being stalked. You want this person out of your
life, you want absolutely nothing to do with them at all - and yet if
need to call upon the services of the police or a solicitor the first
thing you'll be asked for is evidence. The more you have, the stronger
your case - and the more likelihood that your actions will be successful.
It also served the purpose of keeping track of her instability. I could
pretty much tell when I was a due a barrage of hate mail, or when an
otherwise trivial incident would be put down to my interfering with
her life. But a side-effect of all this was being able to pick up snippets
of information as to her current circumstances.
This is how I was able to ascertain that when she landed in Holland
she spent some time sofa-surfing, and then eventually found an apartment
in which to live. And this is where it all gets a bit odd - because
the apartment turned out to be in a complex which provided a combination
of care-home facilities and sheltered accommodation. This seemed very
unusual because you don't typically get access to places like that...unless
you're put there.
It seems that at this time she was in receipt of state benefits, and
I began to wonder if these were conditional. "Here's some income
support, on the basis you go live here" sort of thing.
One of my friends later suggested that her reputation may have followed
her back to Amsterdam. Who knows?
What I do know, however, is that she wasn't at all settled because the
emails kept on coming. I got this little gem on the 15th of February
2024. It was entitled "Hey Satan":
"How many women did you kill last week?"
One of the strangest emails was this one:
"Good evening. I just found it. Finally. The blockage. I'd previously thought that I couldn't get to it because it all seemed welded together. That was you, and fairly recent, because I had vacuumed up a sock a while back and it was nowhere in sight. What's the meaning of all this, dude? What am I supposed to think of this? Please don't pretend you have no idea what I am going on about. I know better. You know that I know better, too. So be better than that. Because you can be. Because you are."
Go figure. I'm getting the blame for blocking her vacuum cleaner. The mind boggles.
In late 2024 the shit, for her, hit the fan.
It appears that there was some sort of incident at her apartment. I
knew that things weren't going well because her social media posts hinted
at her being evicted (yet again) from the apartment. I couldn't quite
figure out how you could get evicted from a place where, presumably,
social services had put you - but there you go.
The incident was astonishing. It seems that a social worker (I assume
as much - she refers to such people as civil servants) gained entry
to the flat next to hers and then climbed over the adjoining balcony
to gain access to hers.
It was at this point that she fled (again).
But that's not the whole story, because it subsequently came to light that she'd been sent a letter that informed her that someone (most likely the social services) had applied for, and succeeded in getting, what she called 'an xyz warrant', which referred to forced medication. The following was taken from her personal website (angelinasouren.com):
I did some digging around and found that this would have been a Wvggz warrant. This is part of the Dutch Mental Healthcare Act, and the explanation of the warrant reads thus:
"What is the Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act? The Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act (Dutch: Wvggz) deals with the rights of people who are required to receive compulsory care because of a psychological condition.
To who does the Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act apply?
The Wvggz applies to people in whom a psychological disorder results
in behaviour that can lead to serious harm for themselves or for others.
This can only be applied when voluntary care to eliminate serious harm
is not possible.
There are obligatory conditions for compulsory medical care.
It can only be imposed if it is: the only way of eliminating serious
harm; proportionate (not excessive for the serious harm that needs to
be resolved); effective (yielding results).
The Wvggz is not for people with intellectual disabilities or dementia;
the Care and Compulsion (Psychogeriatric and Intellectually Disabled
Persons) Act (Dutch: Wzd) applies to them from 2020 onwards."
Things were starting to add up - potentially.
I strongly suspect the following. She'd been placed in this accommodation
because someone realised she had 'issues'. I have no idea how the social
care system works out there but it seems that she would have been given
benefits, from which she was required to pay the rent on the apartment.
As seems to be her usual practice she blew the money (on booze?) and
defaulted on the rent. She was served with a notice of eviction at which
point she battened down the hatches. It seems highly likely that she
would have been kicking up quite some fuss at this point - which may
well be why and how the warrant was applied for and approved. It all
ended with someone climbing over a balcony to gain access to her flat.
Now, you might suggest that this is indeed a revelation - but no. Yes,
it's certainly very revealing - but the real revelation came shortly
after this incident came to light.
I am not going to reveal how the following came to pass - I have good
reasons not to do so, and not just for my own safety - but I was
able to get in touch with others who'd had dealings with Ms Souren.
My approach was tentative - I was well aware of the picture that had
been painted of me, and was very unsure as to how my introductory email
would be received.
As it turns out it was so much more than I could have hoped for. For
the first time since this sordid affair began I had rock-solid confirmation
that no matter what I had done, I would have still ended up in this
situation.
It appears that by the time
Ms Souren encountered me her mental state had already deteriorated to
such an extent that I made the perfect scapegoat for all her woes.
I cannot begin to describe the sense of relief it gave me to learn this
- it made it all make sense - but much, much more than this it told
me that I was not alone. I wasn't unique, I wasn't one in a million...I
was just the unfortunate sucker who happened to be in the wrong place
at the wrong time. It could just have easily have been you - or anyone.
We compared notes - and I really do have to admit that there were a
few chuckles to be had along the way. My reputation as a criminal mastermind
hacker was in tatters...she'd been firing off these accusations in all
directions. We'd all - and I say 'all' advisedly because there are a
number of us - been on the receiving end of Souren's psychotic paranoia.
And it's not just people she's interacted with on a casual basis - some
people have gone out of their way to help her through various predicaments.
The story is always the same; she eventually turns on them - initially
by subjecting them to one of her cod-psychoanalyses and then by accusing
them of being part of some grand evil scheme to destroy her. And she'd
been doing this for years before she met me. Years.
It all sounds so very dreadful - but this isn't the worst of it, which is that she has been entirely responsible for her own woes. For all these years. Nobody 'had her evicted' from various places - she did that herself by astonishingly bad financial management. Nobody took an instant dislike to her - she engendered that by her confrontational attitude. Nobody made plans to engineer her downfall - she did it herself through her paranoia. Nobody 'hacked' her computer/phone - it's just an excuse that hides either her general incompetence or her failing mental state.
For me personally (and for
many others) this was the revelation. The years of thinking that it
was just me, that I was alone in all of this, were over. I never had
any doubts as to my actions or my integrity, but you just can't help
feeling that you are isolated. Not any more.
And this was to completely change the way I viewed this whole nasty
saga.