LAWMAKERS are set to debate whether to add stalking to the list of offences in the penal code, with the proposed offence punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, with the amendment to the act tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today.

According to the blue bill, the section reads: “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.”

The proposed amendment calls for punishment to include imprisonment for a term of up to three years, a fine or both.

Accordingly, the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) (No 2) Act 2022 Bill, was also tabled.

The proposed amendment to the CPC, among others, aimed to insert a new chapter Xa to empower the court to issue a protection order against a person under investigation or charged with stalking.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mas Ermieyati Samsuddin, when tabling the bills, said they would be tabled for the second reading at the next Parliament session.

The proposal was first mooted in 2019 with the establishment of the anti-stalking committee. – Bernama, August 4, 2022.