A Mumbai-based 26-year-old man got bail third time around for stalking and harassing a woman. Ravindra Kasare, the accused according to MidDay, met the victim in 2012. She was pursuing her graduation and doing a part-time job as an accountant where the accused was working as a house-keeper . Soon they became good friends and continued the relationship for three years.
As Kasare was extremely abusive, the victim ended the relationship in 2015. However, Kasare was unable to accept the victim’s refusal to stay in a relationship, and decided to stalk and harass the girl.
The accused would go to the girl’s workplace and abuse her in front of her colleagues and friends. She reported the matter to the Police but he kept getting bail every single time.
Being out on bail gave him more fuel to harass the girl. Speaking to Mid-Day, the victim's cousin sister said,
Once in 2016, the accused visited her office and created a scene in front of her friends. He also used to call her up on her official number and abuse her. That is when she approached the Bangur Nagar police and filed a complaint in the matter.
The police had registered a case under sections 509 and 506 of IPC and arrested him the same year, but later Kasare managed to get bail.
In 2017 Kasare formed a fake WhatsApp group in her name and added many of her family members to it. Thereafter, he started posting obscene messages and photographs on it.
The victim again approached the Dadar Police and filed another complaint. This time too the accused was arrested but got bail immediately.
In the recent attempt to harass the girl, the accused created a fake Facebook account in the victims name and started added her relatives to it. He was trying to get the victim’s phone number.
Make Stalking a Non-Bailable Offence
Do you know that stalking is a bailable offence under Indian criminal law? This allows stalkers to get bail without serious scrutiny, often putting victims at risk of facing acid attacks, rapes and sometimes even murder.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, NCRB:
- There has been a 33 percent rise in stalking cases. 4,699 cases were reported in 2014 and 6,266 cases were reported in 2015
- 35 percent of the cases ended in conviction in 2014
- 26 percent of the cases ended in conviction in 2015
- In 2014, 85 percent of the accused were given bail before the investigation ended
- In 2015, 83 percent of the accused were given bail before the investigation ended
- 60 percent of all accused were men between 18-30 years. 2 percent were juveniles between 16-18 years.
This is why The Quint has launched a petition along with Varnika Kundu and Dr Shashi Tharoor to appeal to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to make stalking a non-bailable offence. If you feel strongly about this, sign our petition here.
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