She describes the whole thing as an almost surreal experience. Lisa Kiviharju was on her way home from the city library, past Annelundsparken in central Borås, with her daughter Ellie in the pram. Then she heard an electric scooter behind her.
- I went to the side to let it go but then it slowed down. In the next second, I felt someone grab my ass. I didn't have time to react. I was completely taken aback, it's not something you expect to happen. In the next second he just went on and I had time to call after him.
What did you shout for?
- It's so ridiculous, but I shouted: "Fucking scumbag!" That was the first thing that popped into my head. It's not a word I use otherwise. But maybe it was because Ellie was there and then subconsciously I didn't want to use the rudest words.
The person on the scooter didn't even turn around, but continued on. Even Lisa continued to walk as if nothing had happened, but suddenly the body reacts.
- I burst into tears and called my partner, says Lisa Kiviharju.
She also spoke to her mother and sister who said she should report it to the police. She herself was hesitant at first – she hadn't even seen the man from the front – but decided to follow their advice. In addition, she made a post on Facebook with the aim of warning others.
- This happened on a Monday, in the middle of the day in a residential area. There are schoolchildren who play sports there and there are many families with children. I didn't want more people to happen to him. Then I got a shock because comments just poured in, she says.
"It happened to me too. He hit me really hard," one woman wrote. Another said that her friend had been hit while they were out for a walk last summer. "She had a slight bruise afterwards," she wrote.
- It just grew. And at the same time I get an email from the police that the case had been closed. Then it felt a bit like you weren't taken seriously, she says.
But the story had already spread in social media and was picked up by, among others, P4 Sjuhärad. A few weeks later, she was on the TV program "Efterlyst".
At the beginning of September, the police contacted Lisa Kiviharju and wanted to know more. Investigator Per Strömstedt had the case on his desk.
- When it got media attention and it came out via our coordinator that we had older similar cases, we started to check if there was any connection. The locations, the approach with a rental scooter and the details were similar. There we began to suspect that it was one and the same perpetrator, he says.
How come it took media attention for you to pick it up and investigate?
- We already had several reports and me on the case. The media attention does not affect the way we prioritize cases, but it led to us receiving more notifications in a short time. That made us start to suspect that it is a person who goes around town, commits this type of crime several times and doesn't stop.
An individual complainant may feel: "It's not enough that I was exposed." How do you see it?
- I really understand that feeling. We receive a lot of notifications every day and sometimes it can be wrong. But we have to prioritize cases based on the resources we have. Before the end of August, we only had a few notifications and we couldn't put the puzzle together, he says.
According to Per Strömstedt, the police have received a total of 13 cases where women have reported being assaulted by the man on the electric scooter. One report concerns an incident in April, but the others must have taken place during the summer.
The behavior seems to have escalated at the end of the summer – eight of the reports apply to the last week of August.
The investigation has identified a young man as suspected of sexual harassment in ten cases - thus three cases have been closed. The man has been interrogated and served with suspicion of crime. In the coming weeks, a prosecutor will have to decide whether the evidence is sufficient to prosecute the man.
That it has gone this far is largely due to Lisa Kiviharju, says Per Strömstedt:
- Her way of daring to be open about it has meant that more people reported and that has helped us further.
She herself says that she is proud of herself. The reactions to her post have been overwhelmingly positive, but there have also been occasional comments excusing the pawing.
- Someone has said that maybe it was a gang of boys who had made a bet, as if that would make it better. For me, it's about not diminishing myself. Whatever the reason, no one should think it has the freedom to touch you like that, she says.
