Stalking should be a crime, say activists

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When a man chooses to trail you, it can’t be that he doesn’t know the kind of uneasiness he’s causing you. Perhaps he loves the thrill of it. His smirk says it all. He knows that since he isn’t indulging in a physical act, no one would probably have a legal right to arrest him. Keeping the plight of such women in mind, the National Commission for Women (NCW) now wants stalking to be considered a crime.
“Stalking of women should be made a crime and a separate section must be added to the Indian Penal Code to combat it rather than clubbing the offence with eve-teasing,” NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said recently.
“It’s very difficult to put across your trauma when only you know that the person following you is making you uncomfortable, but you don’t have anything to say against him just because he didn’t say anything offensive to you. It’s a very ugly situation,” says Shabnam Shah, 29, a media professional who was being stalked for six years, until she got married last year. “I always used to be petrified,” she says. “Now that I have moved to a new city, I sometimes feel him around, but then I know it’s just a fear in my subconscience,” she says.
So, would the installation of security cameras, campus guards, special buses and system of online complaint help curb the issue? These measures aren’t enough to fix the problem, says Reshma Patel, a student. Rashmi is being stalked by a person for the past two years since she turned down his proposal for “friendship”. “He keeps waiting outside my house and seems to know my timings and tuition addresses. He is there everywhere,” she says.
What got NCW talking about stalking is the case of DU student Radhika Tanwar who was killed just outside her college by her stalker in broad daylight.
Reshma hasn’t shared her horror with anyone except for a few friends. She doesn’t trust the police. “Police often end up blaming the women,” she shares. “I don’t want to worry my parents or create a ruckus in the campus,” she adds. “But my fear got worse when I found him trailing my bus in Agra where I was on a college trip,” she says.
But how does one define stalking? Even being around someone without her consent comprises stalking, says Dr Ranjana Kumari, director Council for Social Research and adds, “A woman has a right to accept and reject a proposal. So, it should be a crime to be an unwanted follower on phone, email or in person.”
But there is no shortcut to effective policing she agrees and adds, “While these laws are still in waiting, police has to act fast to prevent unfortunate incidents like that of Radhika Tanwar.”