Stalking has been something that many people do unintentionally. For example, when a group of girls get together and one of them has a new love interest, the girls would then gather all the information they can by “stalking” the guy online.
On Aug 4, 2022, the first reading to pass the anti-stalking bill proposed by Deputy Law Minister Mas Ermieyati Samsudin was heard. Following up on the hearing, Dewan Rakyat has passed the bill today on its third hearing (October 3, 2022).
The bill seeks to amend the Penal Code whereby stalking, whether virtually or otherwise will be punishable by:
- Imprisonment of up to 3 years
- A summon
- If found guilty, offender could be charged with both a summon and imprisonment.
The proposed new Section of the Penal Code will read: “Whoever repeatedly by any act of harassment, intending to cause, or knowing or ought to know that the act is likely to cause distress, fear or alarm to any person of the person’s safety, commits an offence of stalking”.
As of now, the debate to revise the Criminal Procedure Code to include anti-stalking provisions are on-going.
So, fellow Malaysians, it’s best to keep safe and stop stalking other people for any reasons as the repercussions could be serious.
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