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Tangled Web

A very real threat Cyber Stalking (below) a recently published Malayalam book on cyber crime

In 2001, India’s first cyber stalking case was reported. The offender, Mr. Manish Kathuria was stalking the victim, Ms. Ritu Kohli by illegally chatting on the website ‘MIRC’ using her name and exploiting her personal details. He gave out her residence phone number and invited people to chat with her. This resulted in Ritu receiving obscene phone calls and people talking dirty with her. Shocked with the situation, the victim contacted the Delhi Police and an arrest was made under section 509 of the Indian Penal Code for outraging the modesty of Ritu Kohli”.

In the above case Ms. Kohli acted promptly by contacting the local police, hence was protected by law. What if the victim was a 12 year old girl and the offender a paedophile? Or, an ex-boyfriend avenging his break-up? The list is endless. Identity theft as in the mentioned case is not the only threat while posting your profile online. Lurking offenders can cause a lot of mental anguish in ways one cannot imagine.

While reading about the case the word that struck me was ‘Cyber Stalking’. Cyber stalking has come to light only in the past decade, and research on the subject is very limited. However, the crime is of growing criminological concern as it is on a rise. Recently, many cases have been investigated by the Cyber Crime Cell, Mumbai, where misuse of another’s personal details online through social networking sites has taken place. Reports suggest that, through these sites, many college students target people they don’t like by cyber stalking.

Cyber stalking is the use of electronic communication including pagers, cell phones, emails and the internet, to bully, threaten, harass, and intimidate a victim. Cyber stalkers can easily disguise themselves; adopt several false identities, and change servers often, creating difficulty for the victim to trace the messages sent. A cyber stalker can find out the victim’s personal profile, as it is easily accessible on-line. This type of stalking is methodical, deliberate, and persistent communication that disturbs the recipient.

Since a computer screen provides the perfect cover, introverts and people facing insecurities are now able to surf the net comfortably. Victim profiles are observed carefully before choosing to target them. Usually a stalker chooses to pick somebody who gives the impression of being submissive, caring and easy going. Potential targets are those who are mainly new to the Internet, or more vulnerable, like females, children, emotionally unsound, and so on. Paedophiles are amongst some of the most dangerous cyber stalkers, as their victims are mainly children, who may not be able to figure out that they are being stalked.

Cyber stalking is as dangerous as offline or traditional stalking. In fact, it could be more serious as the anonymity makes it very difficult to track them down. In traditional stalking, the stalker has a routine and predictable method. In cyber stalking the perpetrator could be in another state, around the corner, or in the next cubicle at work. The stalker could be a former friend or lover, a total stranger met in a chat room, or simply a teenager playing a practical joke.

The impact of cyber stalking impact is often wide-ranging, severe, and psychologically traumatic. Many victims feel constantly on alert, vulnerable, out of control, stressed, and anxious. Dealing with it can consume all their energy. They may experience a loss of trust, long-term emotional distress, and significant disruption of everyday living.

(Megha Desai is the Co-author with K. Jaisjankar of ‘Cyber Stalking Victimization of Girl Students: An Empirical Study.’ The paper was presented in the 2nd International and 6th Biennial Conference of the Indian Society of Victim logy (ISV) at Chennai during 8-10 February, 2007)

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