Crime is an illegal act or a grave offence against morality for which someone can be punished by the government. To understand crime there is no any universally accepted definition but there are different views of philosophers and jurists. There are uncountable types and classes of crimes and it is increasing continuously day by day. One of such crime is stalking. It was added in criminal laws of India after 2013 criminal amendment act passed by Justice Verma Committee after the increasing number of crimes against modesty of women in society. Stalking, in general is a type of communication crime and it should be gender biased, but in our country, Stalking is held only against the women and not the men.

The basic definition of stalking is a constant communication which can make you feel uncomfortable, frighten or abused. Stalkers also uses apps to harass you by sending unwelcome emails or messages from social media. According to a survey, one in every six women is likely to have faced stalking in her lifetime.

The Indian Penal Code in original did not mention stalking as an offence. The only protection for women was for sexual harassment under Section 354, and Section 509 IPC for using words or gesture to insult a women’s modesty. After the Justice Verma Committee report in 2013, stalking was made a separate offence under Section 354D of IPC. This act after the Criminal Amendment is made cognizable, bailable and non-compoundable offence with punishment up to three years and fine for the first conviction and up to five years and fine for the repetition.

According to Section 354D of Indian Penal Code, stalking means and include –
Any man who follows a woman and contracts or attempts to contact any women to foster interaction repeatedly despite a clear indication of denial by such women.
Any man who monitors the use by a woman of the interest, email, or any other form of electronic communication, is said to commit the offence of stalking.

Stalking got a huge impact on the victims. In most cases it is severe and psychologically traumatic to victims who are emotionally weak. Most of the victims are suffering form mental health disorders and they feel vulnerable, out of control, stressed and anxious most of the time.
In India, the stalking and harassing is mostly common in youth and in teenagers and the problem is not that stalking is taught in schools or homes but it is the result of influence from films, movies and series as they are watching which is being promoted as a heroic gesture.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

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