Punish the stalkers says Delhi Court

March 18, 2018

A Delhi court stated that judiciary should seriously deal with the issue of stalking as the offender, & quot if not treated& quot , becomes more dangerous over time and constitutes a threat to the lives of women. The court termed the capital as one of the & quot most dangerous& quot cities for women, and added that & quot acts of rude and continuous staring at body parts, staring, vulgar remarks and gestures, indecent jokes and rubbing against a woman's body& quot are the things that women in the city face all the time. The Special Judge Kamini Lau's declaration came while rejecting the appeals of 2 convicts in a stalking case and upholding their 6 months' jail term. For the court, there was no reason to disbelieve the statement of the victim, who was stalked in 2013 by her 2 classmates. & quot There was no reason for her to falsely implicate them,& quot she said. According to the court, Indian society has been struggling to find ways to deal with the crime of stalking, which was made an offence in 2013, but there have been several shortcomings in the existing law and a stalker cannot be allowed to roam around freely as his activities could be dangerous for others as well. Apart from this, the court added by saying that society often blames women saying they failed to wear & quot modest clothes& quot , however, it has been observed that even those women wearing dresses that & quot society claims are decent& quot have not been spared. In addition to this, & quot Eve-teasing is not to be judged by men by their own parameters but by women as to how they feel about the same. To a perverted mind, it does not matter how a woman is dressed, how old she is, how pretty she is, where she is- whether in a public transport or hospital, etc.,& quot said Lau. The court further observed that eve-teasing is almost institutionalized in public transport and public places and & quot perverts look for easy preys& quot and vulnerable victims so that they do not get caught. The court added by saying refusal to act on the testimony of a survivor of sexual assault in the absence of corroboration, as a rule, amounts to & quot adding insult to injury& quot and asked why should the evidence of the woman who complained of stalking or molestation be viewed with suspicion.