As stalking is going unabated, an NGO along with a call centre operator has come forward to help victims throughout the country with mental and legal supports over telephone.
The victims can get instant support from the law enforcement agencies or those who have the possibility of stalking or getting threats by any identified stalker, on contact over telephone.
Two service providers—The Hunger Project, an NGO, and call centre operator Windmill-announced it at a press conference in the city yesterday.
The service will be available from next month.
The call centre will inform police instantly about stalking, requesting them to give immediate support to the victims after getting information about the matter over phone, said Mohammad Mosharraf, managing director of Windmill.
"We will preserve voice calls and use those against stalkers if the victims need legal help," he added.
They will also give support to the victims
who don't know how to lodge complaints against stalking with police stations, said Mosharraf.
The call centre will provide counseling to the victims who are mentally disturbed with stalking, he added.
The initiative will also assist those victims who do not share their problems for social or security reasons, said Prof Badiul Alam Majumder, director of The Hunger Project, while addressing the press conference.
Former adviser to a caretaker government ASM Shahjahan said stalking should be treated as the worst criminal offence, as stalkers have recently killed the victims, thrown acid on them or involved in abducting and abusing them. Even, they killed the protestors of stalking, he added.
In Bangladesh, the victims always take stalking incident as a taboo to disclose before their relatives or even to their family members unless stalkers create a panic situation to her normal life. As a result, such incidents are ending up with tragic events, said the former adviser.
This initiative will encourage victims even from remote areas of the country not to be mute against a single harassment, he added.