Written by
Ms.Komalika Bar (BCOM, LLB)
Few experiences trigger as immediate a psychological and physiological threat response as realizing a stranger is following you. Whether it is a shadow on a dark street or an persistent digital footprint tracking your online life, stalking is a severe violation of personal autonomy. When navigating this frightening scenario, safety relies on two interconnected pillars: an understanding of criminal law and an arsenal of practical, immediate physical tactics.
The substantive criminal law of India provides robust protection against non-consensual surveillance and pursuit. The transition to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) significantly modernized how tracking offenses are codified, separating them cleanly from historic ambiguities.
Defining Stalking Under Section 78 BNS
The primary statutory weapon against an individual following you is Section 78 of the BNS. The provision divides stalking into two actionable categories:
Physical Tracking (Section 78(1)(i)): This occurs when a man repeatedly follows a woman and contacts, or attempts to contact her, to foster personal interaction despite her explicit, clear indications of disinterest.
Cyberstalking (Section 78(1)(ii)): This covers situations where any individual monitors a person’s use of the internet, email, social media feeds, instant messaging applications, or any other form of electronic communication network without explicit permission.
From an advanced jurisprudential perspective, Section 78 acts as a protective shield because it recognizes the mental agony of being hunted as a completed crime. The prosecution does not need to show that the stalker intended to inflict physical violence or that bodily harm occurred.
For a first-time conviction, the offender faces a mandatory prison sentence of up to 3 years along with a fine, which escalates up to 5 years for repeat offenses.
Stalkers rarely restrict their behavior to passive observation. If their conduct intensifies, several other provisions of the BNS can be attached to the formal criminal complaint to build a watertight prosecution case:
Section 74 BNS (Assault or Criminal Force with Intent to Outrage Modesty): If the stranger makes direct physical contact, blocks your path aggressively, or uses gestures to compromise your bodily integrity. This is a severe, non-bailable offense.
Section 79 BNS (Word, Gesture, or Act Intended to Insult Modesty): This captures auditory or visual harassment, including catcalling, shouting vulgar remarks, or exhibiting crude gestures in public or digital spaces.
Section 351 BNS (Criminal Intimidation): Applicable when the individual following you issues explicit or implied threats to cause injury to your person, reputation, or property to cause fear.
While the BNS defines the crime, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) provides the structural machinery to ensure the police act decisively. Knowing your procedural rights prevents bureaucratic delays at the police precinct.
Mandatory FIR Registration via Section 173 BNSS
Stalking under Section 78 of the BNS is classified as a cognizable offense. Under Section 173 of the BNSS, the Station House Officer (SHO) has a strict statutory obligation to register a First Information Report (FIR) the moment a complaint reveals a cognizable crime.
The Power of the Zero FIR: Under Section 173(1), you are legally entitled to file a "Zero FIR" at any police station across India, completely irrespective of where the stalking took place. The officer cannot dismiss your emergency by claiming the street or website is outside their specific territorial jurisdiction. They must record the information, generate the Zero FIR, and handle the back-end transfer to the appropriate precinct themselves.
Gender-Sensitive Mandates: The proviso to Section 173(1) states that for offenses committed against women (such as stalking under Section 78 or modesty violations under Section 74), the information must be recorded by a woman police officer. This ensures privacy, sensitivity, and a safe environment for reporting.
Right to Transparent Progress Updates: Under the updated timelines of the BNSS, victims are legally entitled to receive an official update regarding the progress of the police investigation within 90 days of filing the report, ensuring transparent tracking of the case.
What if Police refuse take your complaint?
If a local police precinct refuses to entertain your complaint or register an FIR, the BNSS outlines an explicit, aggressive escalation pathway:
Superintendent Appeal (Section 173(3) BNSS): Send the substance of your written complaint directly to the district Superintendent of Police (SP) or Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) via registered post. If a cognizable offense is clear, the SP will either investigate the matter or command a subordinate officer to initiate a prompt investigation.
Judicial Magistrate Intervention (Section 175(3) BNSS): If administrative escalations fail, you can approach the Judicial Magistrate directly. Under Section 175(3), the court can examine the facts and issue an absolute judicial mandate forcing the police to register the FIR and report back with their findings.
Landmark Case Laws:
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) mirrors and streamlines the structural definitions of the historic Indian Penal Code (IPC), courts rely on foundational precedents to outline exactly what crosses the line from a "misunderstanding" into a full-fledged crime.
The courts have long established that a chance encounter or a single interaction does not constitute stalking.
The Element of Persistence: In judgments defining the nature of tracking, high courts have consistently emphasized that a "course of conduct" is mandatory. The tracking must show a degree of persistence. However, once a victim has clearly shown disinterest, any subsequent tracking fulfills the intent element (mens rea) required under Section 78 of the BNS.
The Boundaries of Photo-Taking vs. Tracking
Krishan Kumar Kasana v. State of H.P. (2025): In an essential boundary-defining ruling under the modern BNS, the Himachal Pradesh High Court clarified that simply clicking a photograph or video of a person at a distance—while potentially violating civil privacy norms or other specific provisions—does not automatically satisfy the criteria for stalking under Section 78 of the BNS. The Court ruled that for an act to qualify under Section 78, there must be explicit evidence that the accused physically pursued or monitored the target with the specific intent to force or foster personal interaction.
Differentiating Unpleasant Exchanges from Cyberstalking
Abhishek Mishra v. State of Karnataka (2025): The Karnataka High Court made a critical distinction between digital harassment and statutory cyberstalking. The court ruled that merely sending coarse, profane, or toxic messages between two parties who have a personal history does not automatically equate to "monitoring electronic communications" under the stalking law. Cyberstalking specifically requires a pattern of covert or overt surveillance, non-consensual tracking of digital footprints, and a systemic invasion of a victim's communication networks.
Statutes and legal codes function as post-incident mechanisms. When you are in an active, dynamic situation with a stranger trailing your movements, your immediate priority is immediate evasion, safety, and evidence collection.
Immediate Physical Safety Playbook
If you realize you are being followed in a public or semi-private setting, implement these physical safety protocols instantly:
Alter Vector and Velocity: Do not maintain a linear path. Cross the street, alter your walking speed, or double back around a public square. This forces the stalker to change their behavior, confirming to you whether their pursuit is intentional or mere coincidence.
Avoid the Isolation Trap: Never walk home or head toward your parked vehicle. Leading a stalker to your place of residence reveals sensitive personal data. Instead, seek refuge inside highly populated, bright commercial structures—such as active banks, restaurants, or supermarkets.
Establish Legal Disinterest: If you are inside a safe, well-lit public space with bystanders present, execute a controlled turn. Make direct eye contact and state in a loud, clear, and commanding voice: "Stop following me." This accomplishes two critical tactical goals: it strips away the stalker's anonymity by drawing immediate public attention, and it satisfies the precise standard of Section 78 BNS by creating undeniable proof of your "clear indication of disinterest."
Deploy Emergency Tech Tools: Dial 112 (India’s all-in-one emergency response line) or activate your smartphone’s hard-coded Emergency SOS trigger (typically tapped by rapidly clicking the power button 3 to 5 times). This sends an instantaneous distress beacon along with your live GPS tracking details to emergency contacts.
Collecting Forensic Digital Evidence
If the harassment is happening in virtual spaces (cyberstalking), do not delete the messages or deactivate your account in a state of panic. Criminal prosecution requires an immutable chain of digital evidence.
Preserve Metadata: Capture comprehensive screenshots that clearly show the perpetrator's profile handle, explicit dates, exact timestamps, and the specific offending text or comments. Do not crop the images.
Log Unique Identity Data: Copy the absolute URL links to the user profiles or message threads. If the stalker is using disappearing or ephemeral messages, use a secondary device to physically take a photograph or video of your screen before the data vaporizes.
When the case moves from the police log to the courtroom floor, the evidence you collected will be scrutinized under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA)—the modern statute governing evidence.
Under the BSA, electronic records, including chat logs, screenshots, and location-tracking data, carry equal legal weight to traditional physical documents. However, to ensure your digital evidence is fully admissible in court, it must be accompanied by an electronic certificate validating that the device used to capture the screenshots was operating correctly and untampered with. Preserving your data accurately from day one ensures that your practical defense transitions seamlessly into a conviction.
Conclusion: Activating the Legal and Tactical Shield
Realizing that a stranger is following you transforms a routine day into a high-stakes scenario where every second and every decision matters. As India's criminal justice system matures with the enforcement of the BNS and the procedural updates of the BNSS, the law has evolved into a much more accessible tool for victims. By criminalizing the psychological dread of surveillance under Section 78 and mandating absolute administrative support via Zero FIRs under Section 173, the statutory framework is designed to intervene before physical harm occurs.
However, legal codes are purely reactive; they are designed to punish the offender rather than navigate the crisis in real-time. True personal safety relies on immediate tactical awareness: altering your path, moving to populated commercial spaces, explicitly stating your disinterest to shatter the stalker's anonymity, and deploying emergency SOS features.
Ultimately, surviving a stalking encounter relies on treating your practical actions and your legal remedies as a single, unified line of defense. By proactively gathering digital evidence, understanding your procedural rights at the police precinct, and refusing to suffer in silence, you effectively dismantle the stalker's leverage. You shift the dynamic completely—moving from a state of vulnerability to active, legally protected enforcement.