In Mumbai, meet the stalker you know

The Sushmita Sen case has highlighted the issue of stalking. But how big a problem is it?

MUMBAI: It's easy to laugh off the first blank call with the heavy breathing that almost borders on the comical. But what happens when it doesn't stop? When it graduates to more sinister methods of harassment like texting, e-mailing and other forms of stalking?

Actor Sushmita Sen can breathe easy. Her stalker — who for days on end was allegedly flooding her cellphone and inbox with lewd messages — was arrested by the Mumbai police in Delhi. But for a majority of nameless people on the receiving end, the only solution is to hope that the SMSes, phone calls, et al, fade away.

One of the reasons for this is that there is no anti-stalking law under the Indian Penal Code. "If someone is being stalked, they can get an injunction from the civil court," says lawyer Rahul Rao. Unless there is a threat of physical harm, there is little anyone can do. So someone simply standing outside your building does not count.

This is where private detective and security agencies come in. According to Captain Swaran Salaria, who heads TRIG detective agency, every third person who enlists his help has a stalker. But contrary to the popular belief, in Mumbai at least, the stalker is no faceless nemesis; chances are he or she is someone who has a shared history with you — a jilted lover, a business partner et al. "The stalker is usually someone who knows the victim.”

The motivations — love, revenge, vendetta — are varied. The victim, too, can rarely be typecast. It could be an industrialist or a housewife.

"It is the job of the agency to then provide concrete evidence and documented proof — one that will stand in a court of law," says Salaria. This would include the identity of the stalker, photographs, phone records and such. It's not rare for the victim to ask for personal protection.

Most people, however, are not comfortable involving the police and the law in such cases, especially if the identity of the stalker is known to them, as this would involve filing an FIR. Flight attendant Carla D'Souza met her to-be stalker while putting up an adoption ad for a puppy. "The man who visited me took my phone number and then started harassing me. He would turn up at any place I happened to be at like a restaurant or a nightclub." Carla threatened to call the police, but in the end asked her male friends to deal with the problem.

Cases like these are few and far between. In most instances, when it comes to strangers stalking people, the harassment is limited to blank calls and weird e-mails that taper out when the person refuses to reply. For instance, a popular city radio jockey deals with persistent listeners who somehow get her cell-number and call, her with practised ease.

The worrying trend appears to be cyber stalking — one that has been reported on with increasing regularity. If the user reveals personal details, the threat can move from the virtual world to the real world. Says DCP Sanjay Mohite of the city's cyber cell unit: "In India, we have more than five crore Internet connections. Most users are aged  between 13 and 35."

On Mumbai's streets, the idea of a stranger stalking stranger is rare. According to Rao, this is one of the reasons why we don't have anti-stalking laws. "A law is made in response to society's needs. Unlike the West, where there is a demarcation between private and public space, in Mumbai, we don't think like that," he says.

We are so used to people infringing our private space. Who is going to notice that black car parked outside your house every evening? Not when it's sharing space with other vehicles, beggars and vendors and the lot.

t_anjali@dnaindia.net