Give everyone room to just be.
Let people move through public places without being stared at, followed, or hit on - most of all women and girls, who face it most. Room is a kindness. Under the law, it is also a duty.
Here's the science
- What happensStaring at, following, or making unwanted advances toward someone in public
- HowUnder the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a man who follows a woman or repeatedly tries to contact her to force personal interaction despite her clear disinterest commits the criminal offence of stalking
- SoSuch conduct is a punishable offence - imprisonment and a fine - not merely rude behaviour
Official count - government recordIN
“Any man who, (i) follows a woman and contacts, or attempts to contact such woman to foster personal interaction repeatedly despite a clear indication of disinterest by such woman; or (ii) monitors the use by a woman of the internet, e-mail or any other form of electronic communication, commits the offence of stalking”
This is the statutory definition of the offence (Section 78, the successor to IPC Section 354D from 1 July 2024), not a measured outcome. As worded, the provision addresses a man stalking a woman.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Section 78 (Stalking) - Parliament of India (statute text reproduced by Devgan.in)(checked 2026-07-18)
And when we do it
When a street lets everyone pass unbothered, more people use it - later, more freely, and more safely for it.
You couldn't have known. Now you do.