What Are Your Legal Rights As A Victim Of Mental Harassment?

Mental harassment is a common issue that affects individuals in many environments, including but not limited to domestic spheres, workplaces, and schools. It consists of actions or conduct that lead to emotional distress, mental trauma, or psychological torture. Costly Tariffs – Fees to Insurance and other Allocators in India, for instance, have started providing for comprehensive protection of individuals from instances of mental torture and harassment and enabling them to seek for redressal.

Mental Harassment: About

It is the bullying, stalking, discrimination, verbal abuse and any other act which tortures the victim’s mind. This as well involves a wide category of activities of non-physical nature which traumatize a person emotionally and does not only entail physical violence. Such situations are as follows:

Harassment in the workplace occurs when an employee is subject to embarrassment, discrimination, or a difficult working environment.
Within a family relationship, such control may also be exert in forms of verbal threats or emotional abuse in other words, domestic violence.
Cyber harassment may include threatening or harassing an individual or group or posting offensive materials to them over the internet.
Stalking is a form of synonymy in which one person persistently contacts another to the point that the second person feels fear or anxiety.

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Laws on Mental Harassment in India

Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita

Speaking or behaving in an obscene manner in public is prohibit by Section 296; in case, the language is offensive and has a detrimental effect on the mental health of the person concerned, it may be reckon as verbal abuse.
Special provisions related to stalking to include deliberately and repeatedly following, phoning, or otherwise trying to reach a given individual in a manner likely to cause emotional disturbance is provided in Section 78.
Precisely, Section 79 in relation to women’s rights covers every deed, movement or statement with the intent of humiliating a woman including emotional or verbal abuse.
Definitions and penalties for criminal intimidation and threats causing apprehension to an individual along with mental harassment under Section 351 (1) and 351 (2) are provided and explained.

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act

The stat policy was put in place to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace, which often tends to be psychological in nature and encompasses indecent comments, signs, or actions.
To deal with and manage incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace, the Act provides for the establishment of an Internal accusations committee (ICC) in offices.
When women employees face intolerable working conditions or rude behaviour or other forms of harassment that are not physical, they should approach the ICC for relief.

Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act

The Act contains measures against psychological and verbal abuse apart from acts of physical violence. Only women suffering from mental violence at home can apply for maintenance support, residential orders and court protection.
The laws enable those seeking protection against domestic abuse in all its forms, including emotional distress from a spouse or family member, to make an application to the court.
To help victims cope with the psychological stress, the law provides for counselling and attendance services.

Information Technology Act

The law also provides adequate means of coping with psychological trauma experienced personally by an individual as a result of online threats and harassment in view of the worrying issue of cyberbullying which has reared its ugly head in the modern-day society.
It is worth noting that in 2015, the Supreme Court of India struck down Section 66A of the Information Communication Technology Act 2000 which punished people for posting malicious content on social media. However, some forms of cyberbullying are address under other sections, for instance Section 67, which prohibits the distribution of pornography.
Remedies include the option to approach the local police or the Cyber Crime Cell in cases involving cyberbullying, trolling or stalking.

Mental Healthcare Act

Enforcement of the right to dignity of life and respect to the mentally ill are some of the features of this Act.
It ensures that all the victims of mental health disorders resulting from any type of persecution, get treatment and rehabilitation.
The Act also promotes the idea that suicide should no longer be treat as a criminal offense since most people who even try to commit it are often mentally torture.

Legal Rights as a Victim of Mental Harassment

Right to Lodge a Complaint

Victims facing mental harassment are entitle to make complaints before the law enforcement agencies or any other relevant authorities (like the ICC at the workplace).
In specific cases where there are threats of violence such as stalking, harassment, or indecent exposure, then an FIR will be lodge giving details of the relevant sections of BNS.

Right to Protection Orders

In order to prevent further harassment or abuse by the perpetrator, victims can seek relief through the courts with the application of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.
An example of a protective order is prohibiting the assaulter from contacting the victim or coming close to the victim’s residence or workplace.

Right to Compensation

Victims of mental harassment may seek redress for their financial losses and emotional pains.
Compensation claims can be make in the context of specific legislations like the Domestic Violence Act in which such claims are incidental to the provisions, or through civil litigation.

Right to Legal Aid and Support

Support services and legal aid, including counselling and psychiatric support, are offer to victims of mental harassment.
Many state agencies and non-state actors provide services to assist victims cope with trauma and the legal processes.