Hyderabad: Stalking by jilted lovers at an all-time high in 2017

Hyderabad: Number of jilted lovers turning stalkers and causing physical harm and spreading malicious content online has seen a constant rise in the past few years in the city.

The cyber cell registered 16 cases under Sections 354 C (watching or capturing image of a woman) and 354 D (use electronic communication to commit the offence of stalking) of the IPC in the first four months of this year.

Most of the jilted lovers-turned-stalkers were in the age group of 20-35. The cases reached a three-year high in 2017.

These diehard lovers refuse to take a “no” for an answer and do not think twice before going to go any extent to cause harm to the other person. 

Among numerous cases of women harassment, jilted lovers misusing social media to defame the victims has also seen a rise, says the She Teams.

Last Friday, the cybercrime police arrested a 34-year-old person for creating a fake Facebook account to upload salacious messages. “E. Naresh Kumar alias Ravi, a resident of Guntur, did it after a girl rejected his proposal for marriage. He even threatened to kill the entire family,” said K. Sudharshan Reddy, inspector with the Cyberabad cybercrimes. 

In another incident on September 22, a 29-year-old jilted lover-turned-stalker,  Veeresh Khanapure, from Karnataka was arrested for abusing another man from Hyderabad on social media who got engaged with the girl who rejected his proposal. 

Even in a normal relationship, a rejection is not taken lightly by men, said Dr. Purnima Nagaraja, a consulting psychiatrist. 

In most of the cases, the girls are at the receiving end. Noted a senior police official, “No matter who ends the relationship, the girl is always on the loss.”