Missed calls to women in Bihar could land you in prison

Women in Bihar, who have been at the receiving end of unwanted phone calls over the years, can breathe easy now. Anyone who harasses a woman with frequent ‘missed calls’ can land in prison.

CID Inspector General (Weaker Section) Arvind Pandey has asked all district superintendents of police and their counterparts in the Government Railway Police (GRP) to investigate and take proper action if any girl or woman complains about having received repeated missed calls on their mobile phones.

In a circular, Pandey asked the police officials to take prompt action if unwanted calls are made to a woman with an intention to harass her. “Giving missed calls to a woman is a serious issue,” he said. “It makes her feel insecure and robs her of their peace of mind. This is a crime of stalking, a punishable offence under the law.” Pandey, however, asked the police officials to ignore if missed calls are made only once or twice from any number.

The IG’s directive follows a training workshop which was organised for the station house officers (SHOs) of all Mahila Thana (women’s police station) on Tuesday as well as different awareness camps organised earlier at girls’ schools and colleges across the state.

Pandey, who had recently asked all police officials of the state to watch a Bollywood film, Rani Mukherjee-starrer Mardani, to get lessons on how to deal with trafficking of girls, said women should know that they are being protected under the law if they are receiving unwanted calls.

The women’s police have so far organised about 65 workshops in the girls’ schools and colleges to apprise them about the necessary steps they should take while travelling, using mobile phones or social networking sites.

According to police sources, the move comes in the wake of large number of complaints received from college girls about unsolicited calls made on their phones. They can now lodge a complaint in this regard at the police station.

The police will now take out the call details of the concerned phone numbers to verify the allegations. If it is proved that the calls were made too many times to harass the recipient, then the police will register an FIR against the accused under Section 354 D of the Indian Penal Code.