STALKING: UNRAVELLING THE TREACHEROUS PUZZLE BY - KIRTI JHAWAR
STALKING: UNRAVELLING THE TREACHEROUS PUZZLE
AUTHORED BY - KIRTI JHAWAR,
LLB (3) 2nd
year,
Seeding School of Law and
Governance,
Jaipur National University,
Jaipur
Abstract
In India Stalking was
added in criminal law after 2013 Criminal Amendment Act which was passed by
Justice Verma Committee. Stalking was added in criminal law because of increase
in number of crimes against modesty of women in society. Stalking is not a gender
biased crime but in India most commonly stalking is held against women. In
India anyone can be stalked at anytime. Before the amendment the term stalking
was not directly included in the Penal Code of India. It was just included
under harassment like voyeurism and sexual harassment against women, under
section 354 and 509. Because of increasing number of cases, it became very
necessary to make a separate law for stalking. Before the amendment it was very
difficult to punish the offender. And they are moving freely from the court
without any fear.
Due to stalking many
of the girls commits suicide, suffers mental pressure or some suffers physical
harassment. Some stalkers are so obsessive and after listening no from girl
they start torturing them. Torture may be physical or mental. Stalking is often
a precursor to other more violent crime. Other more violent crimes like murder, rape,
sexual harassment, acid attack etc.
Indian movies play a
big role to promote stalking. They were portraying stalking as a cool act. They
are showing that stalking is not a crime. They are showing that by following a
girl, singing song for a girl, sending present to a girl and protecting a girl
from stranger will somehow attract the girls attention towards them. Not all
the viewers but some of them are thinking that yes what is all shown in the
movie is good and cool and they start doing that all in their real life. But in
realty the stalkers open the door of jail for them by doing all that. Stalking
is most commonly done by young and teenager peoples. Indian movies are
somewhere providing the idea to the people how to stalk anyone. I is not like
that movies are only influencing bad things. Movies are not only teaching the
bad things to the people I think somewhere it is depending on the peoples
mentality, what they are thinking and taking from the movie.
KEY WORDS: Stalking, Victims, Threat, Fear, physical torture, suicide, harassment, obsessive, nonconsensual communication, Indian Penal Code, Stalkers.
Introduction
The murder of Chennai college student Sathya Priya by her
stalker in 2022 is at once horrific and familiar: a young woman is followed and
harassed for months by a man obsessed with her. A police complaint is filed but
the aggressor is let off on bail. He continues to offend and another complaint
is filed but the families then settle for a “compromise”.
On October 13, 2022,
Sathya Priya confronts the man who has followed her to a metro station. As a
train pulls in, he pushes her onto the tracks. But replace Chennai with Dumka, Kakinada, Srisailam, Delhi or Surat and you get the same story of masculine
entitlement, impunity, regressive social responses and casual policing of a
serious crime.
Crime is an act or an omission which
is universal or we can say it is in every bit of society and knowingly and
unknowingly most part of the society is involved in it. To understand the crime
there is no any universally accepted definition but there are different views
of jurists and philosophers, but from a legal and legislative perspective – A
crime is an act or omission which is illegal or which is against the
law, and the wrongdoer is liable for punishment. The prosecution of case is
started by state. There are innumerable types and classes of crimes and is
continuously increasing. Stalking is one of them and was added in criminal laws
of India after 2013 Criminal Amendment Act passed by the Justice
Verma Committee due to the increasing number of crimes against
modesty of women in society. Stalking is communication crime and it should
not be gender biased but in our country stalking is held only against the
women’s. In general anyone can be stalked and can stalk without even knowing
most of the times, because in our society following someone, calling someone,
asking someone, staring at someone, etc is not accepted as a crime until a
legal action is not taken against him/her.
In 1860 Indian Penal
Code became a colonial law. At that time Stalking is not mentioned in Indian
Penal Code as an offence. At that time Section 354 and section 509 only
provides the protection to women. Section 354 covers the offence related to
sexual harassment and section 509 covers the offences related to using words or
gestures to insult a woman's modesty. If anyone is assaulting a women believing
that it will offend the modesty of women is liable under section 354 to be
prosecuted by law. There are three tests which will proof that the act is
illegal or not.
1) "The act must be against a
women,"
2) "The perpetrator must have used
excessive force, and"
3) "Their modesty should be
offended."
There are a lot of
movies where stalking is shown very often. Indian Movies are portraying
stalking as a cool and good act. They are showing that following a girl,
commenting on a girl, singing a song for a girl is a romanticizing act and not
putting any stress on girls. They are showing that this is a good way to get
the consent of a girl and girls do not have any problem from that. Indian
Movies are showing stalker as a hero of the film and he is following heroine
singing some songs for her and after sometime he will get the consent of girl.
Indian Movies are conveying that, stalking does not put any mental pressure or
physical injury to girl. But in reality it is not true, many of the victims of
stalking are facing mental pressure and physical injury. So many victims are
there who are not able to bear that mental pressure and commits suicide. Some
commits suicide because of fear of society, family and also because of some
threat. The victim of stalking are not only young girls but also the married
women, working women and school and college going girls. There are a lot of
movies since 19's in which stalking scenes are shown and now also it is in the
tradition of Indian Movies to show stalking. Tere Naam, Anjam, Darr, Badrinath
Ki Dulhaniya, Toilet Ek Prem Katha and Deewana Mujhsa Nahin etc. These are some
movies in which scenes of stalking is shown and also the stalkingful songs are
also shown where hero is singing song and following the girl at everywhere
knowingly that she is not interested, still he is troubling her and at last of
the song or at last of the movie the heroine finally consents the hero. And
after watching all these stuff people are thinking that it is true and tries
this all thing in their real life and faces a lot of troubles and causing
injury to others.
Meaning and Definition
Stalking is defined in Indian Penal
code under section 354D but firstly it can be understood through-
·
Continuous
and repeated following someone with ill intention of harming or causing fear to
the person followed is said to be stalking.
·
A
crime of engaging in a course of conduct directed at a person that serves no
legitimate purpose and seriously alarms, annoys, or intimidates that
person.
-Merriam Webster
·
The
crime of illegally following and watching someone over a period of time.
-Cambridge Dictionary
·
Stalking
is the wilful, malicious, and repeated following or harassing of another person
that threatens his or her safety.
– Melroy and Gothard
Stalking in India
Before the amendment in criminal laws
there was no direct inclusion of the term stalking in penal law of India. The
stalking was covered under category of just harassment such as voyeurism,
sexual harassment against women and it was covered under Section 354 and
Section 509 for using words or gestures to insult a woman’s modesty. Due to the
shortcomings in the essentials of section 354 and section 509 of IPC, in most
of the cases the wrongdoer moves freely from the court because it is hard to
proof the certain essential conditions to constitute a crime-
1. The attack must be against a woman,
2. The offender must have used excessive
force,
3. The modesty of women should be
offended.
Therefore, it was need for emergence
of the separate law for stalking in India.
The act of stalking as of today after
the criminal amendment act 2013, is a cognizable, bailable and non compoundable
offence with punishment-
1. up to three years and fine for the
first conviction
2. up to five years and fine for the
repetition.
According to Section 354 D of Indian
Penal Code, Stalking means and includes-
(1) Any man who —
(i) follows a woman and contacts, or
attempts to contact such woman to foster personal interaction repeatedly
despite a clear indication of disinterest by such woman; or
(ii) monitors the use by a woman of
the internet, email or any other form of electronic communication, commits the
offence of stalking:
Provided that such conduct shall not
amount to stalking if the man who pursued it proves that—
(i) it was pursued for the purpose of
preventing or detecting crime and the man accused of stalking had been
entrusted with the responsibility of prevention and detection of crime by the
State; or
(ii) it was pursued under any law or
to comply with any condition or requirement imposed by any person under any
law; or
(iii) in the particular circumstances
such conduct was reasonable and justified.
(2) Whoever commits the offence of
stalking shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either
description for a term
a. which may extend to three years, and
shall also be liable to fine;
b. and be punished on a second or
subsequent conviction, with imprisonment of either description for a term which
may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine
According to the national crime
records bureau report 2018, there are 9,450 cases of stalking was reported in
India. This means on an average there is one case of stalking in every 55
minutes.
Modes of stalking in India
For constitution of crime of
stalking, there is no any particular mode but innumerable options and ways
through which one can stalk, some of them are as follows-
1. Following the girl;
2. Sending unwanted and filthy letters
and phone calls;
3. Trying to communicate forcefully;
4. Taking Photographs;
5. Abuse and harass parents and friends;
6. Physical assault and Threaten to
physical assault;
7. Threaten to sexual assault;
8. Visited home for unnecessary purposes
and stood outside home;
9. Sending presents;
10. Spread rumors;
11. Cyber Stalking through social media
and different apps.
Types of
stalkers-
- Rejected stalker– those who follow someone in
order to take revenge from them due to personal grudges such as divorce,
separation, etc.
- Resentful stalkers– those who stalk someone in
order to distress the victim due to anger and past hatred.
- Heroic Stalkers– those who wish to make love,
relationship, intimacy, etc from victim and they believe to be that they
can get love from girl if they follow her.
- Predatory stalkers– those who follow the victims
in order to make plans for the attack and sexual harassment on the victim.
Reel vs. Real: The
Distorted Portrayal of Stalking
Popular culture in
India has inadvertently glorified stalking, with Bollywood movies often
romanticizing the act as a means of pursuing a love interest. This cinematic
portrayal contributes to a lack of seriousness surrounding the crime until it
escalates into more horrific acts.
Stalking is
frequently utilized to demonstrate the toughness and masculinity of action
heroes.
Popular Bollywood
movies like Raanjhanaa and Badrinath ki Dulhania have
multiple scenes of stalking and harassment, fostering male entitlement and
patriarchal views.
Stalking involves
the unwelcome physical or online pursuit of an individual with the intention of
establishing personal contact, even after objections have been raised. While
stalking is punishable, it remains a bailable offense, posing a significant
threat to victims’ mental and physical well-being.
Victims of stalking
often experience stress and social anxiety, are forced to relocate or change
professions, and at times even conceal arms.
Impact of Stalking
Impact of stalking on the victim is
different and mostly it is severe and psychologically traumatic for many
victims who are emotionally weak. Most of the victims are suffering from mental
health disorders and they feel vulnerable, out of control, stressed, and anxious
most of the time and may experience a loss of trust, long-term emotions from
even closed ones and it leads to anxiety, bipolar disorders, etc and resulted
in all time anger and stress. In most of the conditions the victims change
their jobs, move location, have secret telephone numbers, and started carrying
weapons or firearms to protect themselves.
According to report of Karuppannan
JAISHANKAR Puthisigamani KOSALAI captioned as Victims of Stalking in India: A
Study of Girl College Students in Tirunelveli City the impact on
victims, are as follows-
As far as physical impact is
concerned half (50%) of the respondents did not have any impact. Half (50%)
others had physical impact and 70% of the respondents felt. Anger as an
emotional effect of stalking topped with 19.3%.
In India the stalking and harassing
is mostly common in youth and in teenagers and the problem isn’t that stalking
is taught in schools or homes but it is the result of influence from films,
movies and series as they are watching that to follow a girl or boy or to make
comments or to show love & care or to send presents or trying to be
intimate,etc are negative content which is being promoted as heroic gesture. In
movies such as Tere Naam, Raanjhanaa, Ae Dil Hain Mushkil, Jab harry met
sejal, Rehna Hai Tere Dil mein, etc the villains of the movie created a heroic
misconception into the minds of youth. Recently in the matter of BOYS LOCKER
ROOM CHAT case a group was created by the students on Instagram of approx age
16 to 18 years and are of and from reputed family and schools of south delhi
where it was alleged that they were making sexually colored remarks on girls
and stalking them by capturing and sending the photographs of minor girls
online on that group, similarly on the SNAPCHAT STORY case also, a mastermind
girl was traced after enquiry where she created a page to stalk boys and girls
and make sexually colored remarks over them and later on blame a boy for making
these comments, who was unaware. so it is can be
Legal Pronouncements for Stalking
It is important that the cases of
stalking should be dealt with more seriously and it should be the prime concern
of state and reforming authorities to encourage the victims to share it with
their family and loved ones and to take help of police by reporting of such
kind of offences if anyone is stalking and not to suffer alone and the police
needs to be alert, careful while dealing with such matters and not to deter the
victim by asking harassing questions.
Supreme Court in the case of Vishaka
v State of Rajasthan(1997) discussing sexual harassment at workplace
which is read with an important judgment of supreme court in the matter
of Apparel Export Promotion Council v. A.K. Chopra (1999) stated
that every act of sexual harassment resulted in violation of the fundamental
right of women workers mentioned under article 14, 19, 21 of Indian
Constitution which broadened the subject’s jurisprudence in service law.
In 2012, the Supreme Court in its
judgment of Inspector General of Police v. S. Samuthiram (1999) set
out eight guidelines to curb eve teasing. The Court discussed the importance of
taking up grievances of victim and bystander for eve teasing in public places
such as public transportation, educational institutions, cinema theaters, etc.
In one of a leading case of stalking
and rape titled PRIYA MATOO CASE where a young law student,
was stalked by stalker Mr Santosh Singh, son of a former IPS officer, raped her
and murdered her in her home at Vasant Kunj Delhi. Multiple complaints filed
against the culprit in Vasant Kunj and RK Puram police station. Mattoo was
alone at home on January 23, 1996, when she was raped by Santosh and then
killed. Afterwards the case was transferred to CBI in 1996. The high court
awarded him the death penalty which was later granted life imprisonment by
Supreme Court in December 2010.
In 2016, the Bombay High Court
in Shri Deu Baju Bodake v The State of Maharashtra looked into
a case of suicide by a woman who claimed that the reason for her suicide was
the constant harassment and stalking done by the accused. The accused would
always stalk her during work and insist upon getting married to her. The High
Court held that the charges under Section 354D ought to have been recorded in
addition to the charge for abetment to suicide.
Why the Laws Fail?
In India stalking is the offence
which is gender biased and is deemed that the stalking is done by the males
only and women’s are crystal clear because the legislature has made the
provision of section354D very clear that Any man who—
1. follows a woman and contacts, or
attempts to contact such woman to foster personal interaction repeatedly
despite a clear indication of disinterest by such woman
2. or monitors the use by a woman
of the internet, email or any other form of electronic communication, commits
the offence of stalking:
Stalking is a punishable offence
under Section
354D of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Under the section, any man who
follows a woman and contacts, or attempts to contact her to foster personal
interaction repeatedly despite a clear indication of disinterest; or monitors
her usage of the internet, email or any other form of electronic communication,
commits the offence of stalking.
The section was added to the IPC
through the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013. This amendment was
made on the recommendation of the Justice Verma Committee, constituted in the
aftermath of the Nirbhaya gangrape in 2012, to suggest criminal law
amendments for ensuring quicker trial and enhanced punishment for sexual
crimes. Prior to the amendment, Section 509 of the IPC which criminalises the use of
word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman was used in the
prosecution of stalking-related offences.
However, it remains a bailable
offence. This is despite the fact that stalking is an obsessive act and
anecdotes show that it usually resumes after the offender is freed, and with
doubled ferocity. Legal experts spoke to us about multiple issues with the law
including ambiguous provisions, ease of bail, misapplication and the lack of
gender neutrality.
Police responses also show they do
not recognise stalking as a serious and life threatening crime, instances show.
So it can be an inference that the
stalking is a crime only against women’s and in the abovementioned case of
Snapchat Story case the police officers of delhi has not filed any FIR against
the girl and she walked freely where the officer stated that “She is a girl and
made a plan to make a forged account in order to find out the reaction of boys
and suggested to sexually exploit herself and it is not any crime”.
It is just an example but there are
lakhs of cases where the males are victim of sexual harassment and especially
for stalking but there cases and stories are underreported and no action is
ever taken by the authorities and it is too a reason, why males are committing
suicide.
Conclusion
In India, stalking is very common and
can either be done physically or through electronic mediums in different modes
as elaborated above, which constitutes to a criminal offence with an
imprisonment of min. 3 years.
In India the working professional,
students, housewife and many women get stalked on regular basis without even
knowing and not only the women’s but also the men’s. And stalking and harassing
is not treated as serious crime and due to the fear of being stalked many women
and girls avoid getting out of their house. In order to avoid stalking and
attracting unwanted distress the women are forced to dress so called “modestly”
and to be inside the houses before sunset and to keep professional and limited
relations from colleagues, neighbors, and other persons so that they don’t
attract unwanted attention. Even after the 73 years of independence women’s are
still caged.
References
1.
Vishaka V State Of Rajasthan(1997) (AIR 1997 SUPREME
COURT 3011)
2.
Apparel Export Promotion Council V. A.K. Chopra (1999 Inspector
General Of Police V. S. Samuthiram (1999) (2013) 1 SCC 598
3.
PRIYA MATOO CASE ( 2010)9SCC747
6.
Https://Www.Business-Standard.Com/Article/Politics/At-One-Incident-Every-55-Minutes-India-S-Stalking-
Cases-Doubled-In-4-Years-120022300837_1.Html
7.
J S Verma, 'JS Verma Committee Report' (Ministry Of
Home Affairs 1959)
Accessed 13 March 2022.
8.
Aakash Kumar, 'Stalking – A Precursor To Serious
Crimes, Make It Non-Bailable’ Indian Express (2021)
Accessed 13 March 2022.
9.
Priyadarshini Mattoo ‘Stalking: Five Cases That Shook
Delhi’s Conscience’ The Times Of India (11 August 2017)
Accessed 28 June 2022
10. Aneesha
Bedi, ‘Chandigarh Stalking Case: They Tried To Kidnap Me, Varnika Kundu Tells
Court’ Hindustan Times (2017)
Accessed 16 May 2023.