The proposed amendment, which involves the introduction of stalking as a new offence under the law, was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The amendment bill seeks to insert a new section – 507A – into Act 574 to provide for the offence of stalking.

According to the bill that was distributed in the Dewan Rakyat, the proposed new 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 bill also states that whoever commits the offence of stalking shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with a fine, or with both.

Also tabled was the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) (No 2) Act 2022 Bill.

The proposed amendment to the CPC, among others, aims to insert a new chapter – XA – into Act 593 to empower the courts, upon application, to issue a protection order against a person who is under investigation or has been with the offence of stalking under the new Section 507A of the Penal Code.

Deputy law minister Mas Ermieyati Samsuddin, who tabled both bills, said that they would be presented for a second reading at the next Dewan Rakyat meeting.

The proposal to make stalking a crime was mooted in 2019 with the establishment of the Anti-Stalking Committee.