l Grishma Vekariya, a 21-year-old college student in Kamrej, rural Surat, was stalked for over a year before her stalker, Fenil Goyani, decided to take her hostage and slit her throat in front of her family on February 12, 2022. l In June 2021, a 19-year-old student of an Arts college in Ahmedabad filed a complaint against one Poonam Makwana for stalking. Makwana had been stalking the girl for over a year before she decided to approach the police. l In May 2019, Mittal Jadav (19), was stabbed to death in Bavla, rural Ahmedabad, by her stalker Ketan Vaghela, just days before her marriage. Vaghela had stalked Jadav for some time.
The common thread in all these stalking cases is that the victim and her family did not seek police intervention early, which could have helped end the harassment. Data accessed by Mirror ows that most victims of stalking opt to suffer than approach the police for help.
The number of cases filed by the police under section 354D
of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which constitutes all forms of stalking, is much less than the calls received by the 181
Abhayam helpline in Gujarat from women seeking help against their stalkers.
The Abhayam helpline received 2,507 calls for help related to stalking in 2020, but the actual FIRs registered for the same were a mere 140. In 2021, 2,337 stalking- related calls were received. However, data on the number of FIRs filed in the same year in Gujarat were not available. The helpline has already received 190 calls for stalking in 2022.In Ahmedabad alone, 34 stalking cases were filed in 2020 against 584 calls for help made to Abhayam. In Surat, the helpline received 270 calls for help against stalking, but no FIRs were filed in 2020.
A similar trend is seen in 2019 and 2018 as well. Falguni Patel, a senior counsellor with Abhayam, told Mirror that the main reason why women refuse to report stalking early on is fear of their family. "They fear that if they report the stalking, their family may curtail their freedom or put an end to it," said Patel. He said victims who are aware of the helpline will call immediately when the stalking happens. Many others wait for months before seeking help.
ACP Mini Joseph, who heads the Mahila police stations in Ahmedabad, said most victims are college students.
She said usually, the cops first call the perpetrator and try to resolve the issue. "Even in cases where the stalker is persistent, the victims don't want us to reveal it to their parents. In case the parents are aware, they too are hesitant to file a case," said Joseph. She said many men, even the highly educated, have trouble understanding the concept of consent.
"We have many cases where even highly educated men refuse to accept that no means no. A couple of years ago, we had a case in which, a PhD in law, consistently harassed a woman. The two had met on a matrimonial site and had been in touch for six months. Later the woman felt that he was not the right guy for her and called it off. The man could not accept it kept on calling her. He refused to realise that it was against the law," said Joseph.
Those who work in the field said there is a need to create more awareness about the concept of consent. They also believe that problems such as victim-blaming and curtailing the freedom of women when such incidents occur need to be addressed.
The Abhayam 181 helpline that offers help to women has 47 vehicles across Gujarat, of which the 33 districts have just one team each. The rest are allocated to the major cities of the state. The shortage means counselling often happens on the phone and reaction time is slow if one or more such incidents are reported in the same district.
Narendra Gohil, the coordinator for the Abhayam programme, said at present they have one team in every district, but it would help if more could be added to the fleet.