Blog Details

Author - Associate Jeetu Kanwar

Cyberstalking is a kind of criminal offence where a person threatens the other using the internet as a source. It is mostly committed using social media platforms like messaging, emails and chatrooms; however, it may also occur offline as well. Cyberstalking is way more serious as it involves nefarious intentions ranging from false accusations and defamation to sexual harassment and even encouraging others to harass the victim.

Kinds of Cyberstalking:

• Catfishing: it is where a person creates a fake facebook or Instagram profile and stalks the victim. Such stalkers copy and use photos of existing users and showing them as their own to have a conversation with the victim.
• E-mail Stalking: it involves harassment by sending threatening emails. It also involves hatred and obscene messages. A form of harassment also includes sending the victim viruses or a high volume of electronic junk mail.
• Internet stalking: this type of stalking involves spills in the real world. It also involves conventional methods like threatening phone calls and messages. Also, the stalker consistently stalks the victim on social platforms and keeps an eye on his activities.
• Computer stalking: It mainly involves the exploitation of internet connection to assume control over the computer of the targeted victim. The stalker completely takes control of the victims' computer and uses it to threaten him.

Reasons behind Cyberstalking

• Harassment stalker sexually harasses the victim. The stalker threatens the victim that if she/he does not have sex with him, then he will upload her photo and viral it among masses. This way, the stalker can fulfil its motive by harassing the victim physically as well as mentally.
• Fascination is a one-sided love and affection towards the victim. Refusal of a proposal has often been seen encouraging one to become a stalker. The stalker is unable to bear the rejection and cannot accept the refusal which incites him/her to follow and regularly stalk the victim. Many times also harms the victim through acid act or sexual actions.
• Revenge victim refuses the proposal of a stalker then she/he takes an act of revenge by threatening and causes harm to to the victim in different ways. For example, a woman in Germany refused to accept the proposal of a boy and to take revenge from her he uploaded her photo on social media. He titled her photo by stating “if anyone wants to have sex with me contact me.” It resulted in her being sexually harassed by many people just because the stalker wanted to take revenge from her.
• Boasting/ showoff happens in a friend group where a culprit is challenged to harass a victim. This act results in an unpleasant experience for the victim. The victim is made an object of harassment for no reason.

Types of Stalkers

• Simple Obsession is kind of stalking where the stalker had a previous relationship with the victim. It is when the relationship is non-existent, and the stalker wants to re-enter the previous relationship. As a result of which the stalker stalks the victim to remain updated about his/her life activities.
• In Love Obsession, the perpetrator is in love and affection towards the victim, mostly one-sided love. He would never accept that the victim will refuse her proposal. Most of these kinds of stalkers suffering from psychological disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
• Erotomanic stalking is when a stalker has a delusion that the victim loves him/her, but when the fact comes out to be otherwise, it starts talking to the victim. It happens because the stalker is unable to bear the truth.

Methods of Cyber Stalking

• The stalker collects all information about the victim by keeping an eye on all the online activities.
• The stalker collects a series of information about the victim and threatens the victim to use it for personal use and to exploits the victim.
• The stalker uses this information by posting the photo and personal data of the victim on a social media platform and abuses her sexually.
• Because of the above actions of the stalker, people from all corners of the world starts calling to have sexual favour from the victim.
• Stalker subscribes to the e-mail of victims into pornographic and sex sites.