Stalking is one of the most under-rated and under-reported crimes in India, and across the world. In 2014, the National Crime Records Bureau recorded 4,700 cases of stalking and 674 of voyeurism; only 1.6% of the total crimes committed against women that year.
However, a closer look reveals the truth. Stalking usually comes as an added fact; an afterthought; a contextual detail to a murder, rape or molestation case in India. “The rapist had been stalking her for months...”, add media and police reports casually. Almost 4% of 33,981 murders in 2014 were motivated by unsuccessful love affairs and/or non-reciprocal sexual attraction.
In the face of such rampant violence against women, who are twice as likely to be stalked as men, it is crucial to understand the psyche of a stalker; what goes on in their minds when they fixate on another human being like an object? What are the signs of a stalker’s behaviour that indicate a possibility of real, physical harm to the stalked?