Broken homes produce stalkers

Peer pressure, grudges, obsessions behind online, phone harassment

During counselling sessions with mobile phone and online stalkers arrested by SHE teams, psychologists found that most young stalkers come from disturbed families or broken homes.

Many are also influenced by movies that normalise this kind of criminal behaviour and many also have been brought up to think that teasing and harassing women in the name of love is acceptable behaviour.

Many of those who harass their victims do so because their advances were rejected by the victim, says Hyderabad SHE team chief Swathi Lakra. “They might have proposed to the victim or were in a short relationship, but when they were rejected, they cannot take it,” she said.

The second kind of stalker is either mentally ill or has a delusion that the victim is in love with him.

“They do not accept the fact that they have psychological issues. They believe they have romantic personalities. So, they are on a quest to make the victims fall in love with them by stalking,” said a professional counsellor, who has interacted with offenders during the SHE team sessions.

The third kind of stalker, comparatively rare, indulges in predatory behaviour and can be extremely dangerous, with the initial stalking ending up in heinous crimes like rape or murder or both.

Experts say all stalkers have one thing in common — obsessive behaviour.

Most of them also have distorted thinking and narcissism.

“What we understood by talking to these offenders is that most of these issues start at home. The upbringing of a person is the prime reason for him turning into a stalker. Most young offenders didn’t even think that they were indulging in criminal acts. Since childhood they have believed that they are superior to women and it is okay to tease women,” said Ms Lakra.