Dealing with stalkers!

Hyderabad: On Wednesday, a post by the She Team went viral on social media. A lady who was going home at 5 am after her shift at work, was stalked by a 25-year-old Mohd Ziauddin. After she reached home, she realised that he was still waiting behind her car. Worried, she left and reached a petrol bunk. In the meantime, her friend, whom she had called, made it to the petrol bunk but before he could nab the man, he escaped. Luckily for them, he left behind his bike and that was how the She Team nabbed him.

But after the post went viral, many started pointing out that the fine and the jail sentence — Rs 50 and two-day jail — was too less. “We ourselves are concerned that the jail sentence and fine is less; but when a victim doesn’t file an FIR, as was in this case, there is nothing we can do, but book the culprit under petty cases and counsel them for what they did,” explains Swati Lakra, Addl. Commissioner of Police (Crimes & S.I.T.), who heads the She Team.

For those who thought that the two-day sentence was a small punishment, Swati adds, “We counsel the culprit and after that, we make sure that his parents, college authorities and the bosses where he works are made aware about his acts — shaming works best! After that we also make it mandatory for them to come to the police station and give attendance once in two or three days.”

According to Swati, one of the biggest issues when it comes to handling eve-teasing cases has to do with an FIR. “If an FIR against a person is filed, they will be booked under Section 354D. If proven guilty, they will receive a jail sentence of minimum three years and a heavy fine,” she explains.

While an FIR is the answer to these issues, Swati says that there have been cases where the girls were too scared to file a complaint. “There have been situations where we have had friends of a victim approach us because the parents of the girl stopped her from filing a complaint. In such cases, we go ahead and do our duty,” she says.

Despite existing laws, Swati believes that the law needs to be more strict for such incidences. “Which is why we have come up with a proposal for a stricter Act — TS Prohibition of Eve-Teasing and Harassment of Women — to deal with eve-teasing,” she says. The Act, according to Swati, is based on the lines of the anti-ragging law here and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Eve Teasing Act.

“The proposal has already been accepted by the TS government and is with the Centre; if the Centre gives us the go ahead, eve-teasing will be dealt with much more seriously and the fines and punishments will be very high,” she says.