PETALING JAYA: The absence of an anti-stalking law has made it difficult to deter the act, said the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO).
“There is little the law can do if someone is following you, contact you repeatedly or makes indirect threats,” its deputy executive director Yu Ren Chung told theSun.
He said stalking should be made an offence under the Penal Code with restraining orders or protection orders introduced.
“Stalking is harmful as it causes distress. And stalking is often a prelude to further violence, even murder. This is why we need to stop stalking before it escalates,” he said.
WAO has made continuous efforts to criminalise stalking in Malaysia. After a year, not much progress has been made to make the act of stalking a crime.
In June 2017, Hazwani Ismail was stabbed seven times by her former lover after she ended their relationship. In February 2017, a man gunned down his ex-wife before turning the weapon on himself. Both women reported being stalked prior to what unfolded.
It has been reported that the government is preparing a cabinet paper on making stalking a crime.
“We expect this to be done in time for the Dewan Rakyat session in November,” Yu said.
Lawyer Dinesh Muthal said if an anti-stalking law is produced, it should define what constitutes stalking.
“There must be a breakdown on the types of stalking that exist for example physical following or cold calls. We should not wait till something happens,” he said.
The act invokes fear and psychological distress in the victims and may ruin the quality of life for that individual.
However, criminologist Professor Datuk P. Sundaramoorthy said instead of introducing a new law, our existing laws should be amended.
“We have enough laws that deal with various types of criminal behaviour. We should look into amending existing laws and see if it fixes the problem.” The process to introduce a new law in Parliament is a long and tedious one.
Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, India, South Africa, Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the US are some of the countries that have criminalised stalking.
