Government plans to make stalking of women a criminal offence

NEW DELHI: The Union home ministry is now doing a re-think on its earlier decision to not designate stalking of women as a separate criminal offence and thus exclude it last year from the ambit of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2012 which is pending consideration before Parliament.

A senior official in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said stalking could now be included in the ambit of the said bill after the recommendations of the Justice JS Verma Commission are received later this month.

Stalking was excluded from the ambit of the bill last year after the ministry gave a view that stalking as a crime was difficult to prove in a court of law.

However, the MHA official said that after the gang-rape incident in Delhi that led to widespread protests, there was now a considered view that offences like stalking should be nipped in the bud with strict punishment so that the offender is deterred from resorting to graver offences like molestation or rape.

"The testimony of the woman being stalked in person or on phone or e-mail should be enough proof against the stalker," the official said. Right now, Delhi Police can only take action against a stalker under section 91/93 & 97 of the Delhi Police Act, which involves a fine that may extend to Rs 100, or, in default of payment of such fine, imprisonment for a term not exceeding eight days.

Delhi Police also runs a dedicated anti-stalking telephone helpline for women. Complaints can be made in case someone is persistently or regularly being harassed by following, calling, messaging, standing outside her office or home, sending gifts or packages or taking photographs of the woman.

Speaking at the MHA conference with DGPs and chief secretaries of all states on January 4, the woman and child development minister Krishna Tirath had urged the home ministry to reconsider its decision of not designating stalking as a sexual offence.

There have been incidents of stalking leading to grave sexual offences against women such as the Priyadarshini Mattoo case where the victim was stalked first by one Santosh Singh before being raped and killed by him.

The home ministry will, meanwhile, amend the Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with offences related to outraging a woman’s modesty and plans to specify separate punishments for various offences under the section.