The phenomenon of harassing phone calls has become a common occurrence for people these days. Threats, derogatory language, and other remarks that violate people’s dignity are frequently included in these calls. Given that the other person is an absolute stranger, things get more serious. People need to be made aware that making these calls is illegal in India, so they should report these incidents as soon as they happen.
Identification Of Harassing Phone Calls
Not all undesirable phone calls come under the definition of harassment.
Following are the conditions under which an undesirable phone call constitutes offence of harassment:
*Somebody annoys or threatens you by continuously calling you.
*Making statements, comments or proposals that are offensive or sickening.
*Continues to converse without revealing his actual identity.
*Shows abusive or belittling telephone behaviour.
Remedies
First and foremost, the victim needs to file a complaint against the harasser and report the incident to the police. The police will be able to apprehend the harasser with the help of certain information, such as voice recordings and the time and date of the phone calls. Upon receiving calls for an extended period of time, the victim is required to file a formal complaint.
The list of provisions:
*Section 354A of Indian Penal Code-
Under this law, any person who asks for sexual favour or makes expressive sexual comments shall be held guilty of offence of sexual harassment and will be punished with imprisonment upto 3 years or fine, or both.
*Section 354D of Indian Penal Code:
It states that if a person often proceed towards a women for a sexual relationship despite her being disinterested shall be punished with imprisonment of 3 years with fine.
*Section 506 of Indian Penal Code:
This clause states that if a person is guilty of the offence of criminal intimidation shall be subjected to 7 years imprisonment along with fine.
*Section 507 of Indian Penal Code:
Anyone who attempts to frighten or terrify a woman through unidentified communications will be punished with 2 years imprisonment in adding to punishment given under section 506.
*Section 509 of Indian Penal Code:
It states that if anyone insults your humility on a phone call, then in such case he will be punished with imprisonment of 1 year in along with fine.
Effects of Harassing Phone Calls
Unwanted harassment calls have a long list of consequences. Sometimes the harasser is a person we know. This leaves a feeling of humiliation or betrayal by the harasser.
A survey was conducted by Truecaller in 2019 on 2150 women ageing between 15 to 35 years. The report showed up that 4 out of every 5 women described that they feel irritated or in pain through these phone calls. 1 in 3 women reported that it left a psychological impact on their health that they felt ill at ease most of the time. Also, the number of victims are rising yearly.