The government on Tuesday amended the Mobile Court Act 2009 empowering the mobile courts to try offenders of stalking girls or women summarily.
The home affairs ministry issued an official gazette notification incorporating Section 509 of the Penal Code into the list of laws under the purview of the act in the wake of rising incidents of stalking across the country, officials said.
The government also has decided to set mobile courts in operation in every district against stalking of girls and women that recently caused deaths to a number of people in different places.
‘Mobile courts will be operated in each district to curb crimes like eve-teasing. Lawmen have been asked to get tough with the teasers,’ state minister for home affairs Shamsul Haque told reporters after a meeting at the secretariat on November 2.
He said the ministry was also considering a fresh enactment with provisions for stern punishment of stalkers of girls and women. ‘We are also thinking to take legal actions against the guardians, if their children are involved in eve-teasing,’ he added.
The Section 509 of the Penal Code says whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine or with both.
The home ministry earlier sent a proposal to include stalking in the mobile court law’s scheduled offences to the law ministry for vetting to allow the authorities to operate mobile courts for summery trial of the offence.
Rupali Rani Bayati is the latest victim of stalking. Earlier, September 7, a schoolgirl in Satkhira killed herself by taking poison reportedly after being tormented by stalkers. Stalkers killed a mother at Madhukhali in Faridpur after she had protested against the harassment of her daughters. Mizanur Rashid, a college teacher of Natore, died on October 24 after stalkers riding a motorbike ran him over on October 12 for protesting against their harassing girls.
The Ain O Salish Kendra in a report on October 2 said at least 25 women had committed suicide in the country in the first nine months of 2010 due to harassment, while 17 others, including a woman, were killed for protesting against harassment of girls.
