STALKING

Section 354D IPC

Any man who follows a woman, contacts her or attempts to contact her for personal interaction time
and again even after the woman has indicated clearly that she is not interested in making an
acquaintance, amounts to stalking as per Section 354D. This Section also covers online stalking that
is to say monitoring her use of the internet, email or other forms of electronic communications.

Exceptions to stalking
● If the woman is pursued by the man as a part of his responsibility to the state, to detect a
crime or prevent one from happening;
● To abide by any condition or law given by a person authorised by law;

● Other situations that might make his conduct reasonably justifiable.

The punishment prescribed by the Section for stalking is simple or grievous imprisonment for a term
of three years and fine upon first conviction and on a second conviction, imprisonment for a term of
five years and fine.

Section 354D IPC interpreted with other

provisions
● 354A of the Indian Penal Code discusses making sexual advances towards a woman and
physical contact that is unwelcome or explicit, demands or requests for sexual favours
shows, pornography against the will of the woman and makes sexually coloured remarks.
All these have been categorised as sexual harassment and before Section 354D this
Section was used to cover stalking as well since most cases of sexual harassment begin
with stalking.
For example eve-teasing, a girl walking home by making sexually coloured lewd remarks or
demanding and requesting sexual favours, in such cases Section 354A will be read with Section
354D(1)(i) of IPC.

● 354B– This Section speaks about the use of criminal force or assault with the intention to
disrobe a woman without her will. The Section punishes abetment of such offence.
It is pertinent to note that disrobing a woman means to take the woman’s clothes off against her will
or to compel her to take her clothes off against her will.This too is a form of eve-teasing and stalking
a woman with an intention to disrobe her against her will. It attracts both outraging the modesty of a
woman as well as Section 354D(1)(i). There have been instances where a man stalks a woman until
cornered, uses criminal force or assaults her, forcing her to disrobe or tries to disrobe her himself
against her will.

● 354C– Voyeurism is elucidated under this Section, which simply means attaining sexual
pleasure by watching a person when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity. The
Indian Penal Code punishes any man who watches or captures images of a woman by
invading her privacy, essentially when she is naked which means that her genitals,
posterior and breast are exposed or when she is engaged in any private act that she
would not ordinarily do in public. The Section makes it clear that such an act is
punishable if done without the consent of the woman by using the line “she would not
expect to be observed in the time of her privacy”.The Section punishes circulating such
images of the woman.
Voyeurism too is most often read with Section 354(1)(i) since it involves a man following a woman
to watch or capture her images, invading her privacy.

● 509- Insult the modesty of a woman by using words, gestures or actions. The main
ingredients of the Section that the offender must utter words, make a sound or gesture or
exhibit any object and it must be done with the intention that it be heard or be seen or
invade the privacy of the woman. Section 509 is often read with 354D(1)(i) since there
have been incidents of eve-teasing with an intention to insult the modesty of a woman
while stalking her.

354D IPC and Cyber Stalking

Section 354D(1)(ii) mentions that monitoring the use of the internet or email or any other electronic
communications by a man even after she has expressed her disinterest and displeasure to interact
amounts to online stalking.

Trying to contact a woman and make personal acquaintances even after she has shown her
disinterest, defaming, slander and libel on an online platform also are considered cyberstalking. For
example: sending friend requests to a girl’s account even after she rejected it from multiple accounts.

Cyberstalking is usually dealt with under Sections 66E, 67, 67A and 67B of the Information
Technology Act of 2000 while being read with 354D(1)(ii).

● Section 66E of the IT Act: while Section 354C read with 354D91)(i) is voyeurism that
happens with physical stalking, 66E talks about voyeurism committed through the internet
which is most commonly a result of cyberstalking. The Section punishes capturing,
publishing and violating the privacy of an individual.
● Section 67 of the IT Act: talks about punishment prescribed for transmitting obscene
material in electronic form, this Section is read with Section 292 of IPC and 354D(1)(i) in
instances of stalking and sending obscene, vulgar material.
● Section 67A and 67B of IT Act: while 67A deals with an adult woman facing stalking
and being sent sexually explicit material, publishing and transmitting explicit material,
 67B deals with children below the age of 18 years in the above same situation. Both these
Sections cover the ambit of 354D(1)(i) to be read with.

How to identify and file a complaint against

stalking

Physical Stalking
Based on these provisions, one can identify what way they are being stalked under Section 354 D(1)
(i). It has to be noted that certain actions of stalking also result in harassment of a sexually-explicit
nature, which must be determined under Sections 354A, 354B, 354C and 509. It is important to
understand and determine whether the actions happening to you are as per the Section, that is:

● If you are being followed or contacted by a man

● The man shows intentions to build personal interaction

● You have indicated disinterest

● Recognise if any other actions are happening along with stalking. For example, sexual
harassment, voyeurism (taking pictures without consent), assault, trying to outrage
modesty by words actions gestures and trying to disrobe forcefully.
It has to be noted that certain actions of stalking also result in harassment of a sexually-explicit
nature, which must be determined under Sections 354A,354B,354C and 509.

● File an FIR/complaint against it at the nearest police station.

● In case you are not in your domiciled state, a zero FIR may be filed. A zero FIR allows
you to register a complaint irrespective of where the offence has been committed and later
on transfer such complaint to the police station of that jurisdiction where the offence has
been committed.
● Establishing whether the offence is cognizable or non-cognizable helps understand
whether approval of court or warrant would be required to arrest the offender.
● Since 354D is a cognizable offence, police can arrest the offender without the approval of
the court followed by which investigation begins.

Cyber Stalking
Cyberstalking is dealt with 354D (1)(ii): identify and be sure that you are facing cyberstalking
through the essentials mentioned in the Section.

● If you are being followed or contacted by a man

 ● The man shows intentions to build personal interaction

● You have indicated disinterest

● Monitors the use of your Internet

● Recognise if any other actions are happening along with stalking. For example, sexual
harassment, voyeurism (taking/publishing pictures without consent), trying to outrage
modesty by words or gestures, showing pornography or sending explicit content.

● A complaint can be filed to cyber cells dealing with internet-related criminal activity that
is cybercrime.
● The complaint can be either made online or via an FIR.

● To file a complaint anonymously there is provision for an online grievance cell with the
National Commission For Women who then forward the case to the local police.
● Social Media apps and sites provide the option to report any activity that is considered
explicit information that might be offensive. This option helps remove the offensive
information within 36 hours as per the Intermediary Guidelines Rules, 2011.
Complaints filed for either kind of stalking, if refused the victim can seek legal assistance directly for
the judicial magistrate. The complaint filed must also keep the victim’s identity confidential.

Prevention of Cyber Stalking

Here are a few suggestions to prevent cyberstalking:

● It is advised to refrain from disclosing personal details such as phone numbers, Emails or
house addresses on your social media.
● Having different accounts for personal and professional online presence minimises a lot
of risks.
● Making sure to have the GPS location of your devices off as well as not sharing live
locations whenever there isn’t a need, would ensure safety.
● Checking privacy settings and not responding to unknown calls or messages is advised.

● Protect your IP address with a virtual private network, installing anti-virus software into
your devices also helps.

Case laws concerning Section 354D IPC

One of the very most thought-provoking cases which invoked provision 354D was: Santosh Kumar
Singh v. State Through CBI (2010) where Priyadarshini Mattoo, a 25-year-old law student was
stalked, raped and murdered at her residence in New Delhi. The third-year law student had been
stalked multiple times and had been harassed by Mr Santosh Singh, son of a former IPS officer and
was her senior at the campus law centre in Delhi. Several complaints were filed against him on
several instances of stalking her, harassing, threatening her and making indecent requests. An FIR
under Section 354 was filed in Maurice Nagar Police Station the perpetrator was arrested and
released on a bail bond. A complaint was filed with the Dean of the university who asked the accused
to not do such activities, the victim was also assigned personal security personnel due to the severity
of the situation.

On January 23rd 1996 when the victim was alone at home on the account of coming to a legal
compromise, he assaulted her. He then proceeded to hit her 14 times with his helmet, raped her and
strangulated her with a wire to death. The case was taken up by the trial court and the accused was
given the benefit of doubt due to the fabrication of evidence by CBI, evidence was not collected as
per procedures of law.

When the matter was taken up at the High Court the accused was awarded the death penalty which
was on a later date December 10 granted to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court.

In the case of Shri Deu Baju Bodake v. The State of Maharashtra (2016) Bombay High Court dealt
with suicide by a woman who ascertained the reason for her suicide was consistent harassment and
stalking by the perpetrator. Not only did the accused harass and stalk her while she was at work he
also demanded to get married to her despite her disinterest and dissent. The High Court held it
imperative to record Section 354D along with abetment to suicide to punish the accused.

Arvind Kumar Gupta v. State 2018, a man followed her to her office and stood next to where she
stayed, by the time she returned from work. This continued for a year until the woman’s brother
confronted the man who said that the girl reminded him of someone and was intending to marry her.
The woman filed an FIR and in the trial, the man could not plead his defence. The prosecution was
able to prove that he followed her constantly even after she was not interested. The prosecution was
able to prove that he followed her constantly even after she was not interested. It was decided by the
court that the man was guilty of stalking the woman as per Section 354D(1)(i), he was without
reasonable doubt wanting to interact with her even after she expressed her dissent. The court awarded
him with simple imprisonment and a fine.

Analysis of Section 354D IPC

Section 354D although discusses stalking to a greater extent, it does not provide for stalking that
happens not just with women only. Stalking is such a crime that may happen to anyone at any point
in time and since the invention of technology people of all genders can be victims of the
communication offence. This calls for the provision to be more gender-inclusive.

Stalking under Section 354D of the Indian Penal Code is a bailable offence in the first instance which
means that the accused is free to go on bail. Such bail is not required to be approved by the court;
neither does the accused need to present himself before the court. While in reality there is the utmost
need to make it non-bailable since it is often misused by men. Stalking not only is a crime on its own
but is also the reason for certain other crimes, most commonly sexual harassment. The above cases
show that stalking can lead to several serious crimes against women including rape.
The woman is harassed, called out by sexually coloured remarks, teased, gets asked sexual favours
and demands. Since the generation of the internet is fast and affordable stalking that leads to sexual
harassment is quite prevalent in the online mode. All such actions have a serious effect on a woman’s
self-esteem, confidence to be independent and mental health. Most crimes against women start with
stalking and progress towards serious offences especially out of rage that the victim filed a case. The
stalker, despite being arrested, is allowed to roam free on bail.

Criticism of Section 354D IPC

While the National Crime Report Bureau estimated stalking as a crime to have grown exponentially
in 2017, with just 26% of conviction rate one can’t help but analyse are there enough laws to prevent
stalking. The Indian Penal Code of 1860 along with the Information and Technology Act of 2000
provides punishment for stalking although there has been no discussion about prevention. This
indicates that the criminal justice system needs to take a look at provisions related to women in a
preventive way rather than a protective way. That is to say, nip the evil in the bud.

There is a need to strengthen the acts that amount to stalking as a crime as it only talks about
following a woman and trying to establish contact with her even when she is disinterested. It does not
mention anything about acts that might lead to stalking or are a mode of stalking such as, staring at a
person, spreading false rumours, making calls or lurking around a person’s residence

Conclusion
The Indian Penal Code has played a pivotal role in making a framework for provisions for women.
The code attempts to cover all crimes against women of all ages, right from the Prenatal stage
covering childhood, adolescence, reproductive age and offences against elderly women, for example,
there have been several cases of abuse of widows.

Most cases of stalking go unnoticed because women do not want to risk the freedom of being able to
move around and many eyewitnesses ignore it, this has rendered the offence be not taken seriously at
all even if there is a provision to punish it. With awareness and education on how to react in
situations of being stalked or invoking Section 354D to report the crime, file an FIR and approach the
right authorities, a change can be brought.

References
● https://blog.ipleaders.in/stalking/#How_to_Make_Complaint_against_Stalking

● https://blog.ipleaders.in/what-to-do-if-you-are-being-stalked/#Conclusion

● https://blog.ipleaders.in/enough-laws-prevent-stalking-india/

● https://blog.ipleaders.in/how-to-prevent-cyberstalking/#Ways_to_prevent_cyberstalking

● https://indiankanoon.org/doc/121914628/
 ● https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1290716/

● https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/5a65cbac4a9326332077787f

● https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1860-45.pdf

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