“Class 10 student and her mother receive harassing messages from classmate.”
“The incident began in July when a Class 10 student started receiving obscene and threatening messages from an unknown number.”
A Class 10 Student in Mumbai Was Arrested for Stalking Because a Prank Went Too Far.
Mumbai:
A prank that was meant to be funny has landed a Class 10 student in a legal fight after the police in Mumbai charged her with stalking. The girl’s father has turned to the Bombay High Court, asking for the First Information Report (FIR) regarding the incident to be dismissed.
The girl received the first nasty and threatening messages from an unknown number in July while she was still at school. At first, she didn’t pay attention to them, but when they kept coming, she blocked the number.
Then things got worse when the same number started sending messages to the girl’s mother in the same manner. The family was really upset and decided to report the matter. On July 10, the police took action against an unknown person under Sections 78 and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) law, which are about stalking and a woman’s modesty being outraged.
The police, after carrying out an inquiry, managed to trace the phone and were shocked to find out that the messages were not from a stranger but a schoolmate of the victim. Even more surprising was that the accused was not only a classmate but also a bench partner of the victim as they had the same seat in class.
What started as a joke has now turned into a lawsuit and a discussion on issues like cyber safety, responsible online behaviour and the consequences of such actions among teenagers.
The matter is now before the courts as the Bombay High Court decides on the application to quash the FIR.
