If you are being threatened, harassed, or have received death threats, the law in India gives you clear and effective remedies, and acting quickly is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself. Many people hesitate to file a police complaint for threats because they fear the process is complicated, or they worry that the police will not take verbal or online threats seriously. That fear is understandable, but misplaced — Indian criminal law, particularly the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), which replaced the Indian Penal Code from July 2024, along with the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), gives victims of intimidation, harassment, and threats to life a direct and well-defined path to justice. This answer explains exactly how to file a police complaint for threats, harassment, and death threats, what legal sections apply, what protective steps you can take, and what further recourse is available if the police are slow to act or if you also want to pursue civil remedies such as defamation.

The first thing to understand is that a threat to someone's life, body, reputation, or property is a cognizable criminal offence under Indian law, meaning the police have the power — and the duty — to register a First Information Report (FIR) and investigate without needing prior permission from a magistrate. The relevant provision is Section 351 of the BNS, which corresponds to Sections 503, 506, and 507 of the old IPC and deals with criminal intimidation. Under this section, if a person threatens you with injury to your person, reputation, or property with the intent to cause alarm, or to compel you to do something you are not legally bound to do, that person commits criminal intimidation. Where the threat specifically involves death, grievous hurt, or destruction of property by fire, the punishment is enhanced — imprisonment of up to seven years, as opposed to two years for a simple threat. This distinction matters a great deal when you are drafting your police complaint for threats, because clearly stating that the threat involved a risk to your life pushes the offence into the more serious category and often results in faster police action.

When you approach the police station to file a police complaint for threats, harassment, or death threats, you should go to the police station that has jurisdiction over the place where the threat was made, received, or where you reside if the threat came through a phone call, message, email, or social media. You are entitled to have your complaint registered as an FIR if the offence is cognizable, and criminal intimidation involving death threats squarely falls into that category. If the officer at the desk is reluctant to register the FIR, you have the legal right under Section 173 of the BNSS (the successor to Section 154 of the old CrPC) to send your complaint in writing to the Superintendent of Police or the Deputy Commissioner of Police, who is obligated to either investigate the matter personally or direct another officer to do so. You can also approach the jurisdictional Magistrate under Section 175(3) of the BNSS to direct the police to register the FIR if they refuse without valid reason. This provision exists precisely because delays in registering complaints about death threats can have serious, sometimes irreversible, consequences, and the law does not permit the police to sit on such matters.

Documentation is critical when you are preparing to file a police complaint for threats and harassment. Preserve every text message, WhatsApp chat, email, voicemail, call recording, or social media post that contains the threat, and do not delete anything even if it is disturbing to read or listen to. Take screenshots with visible timestamps, note down the exact date, time, and circumstances of any verbal threats, and if there were witnesses, get their names and contact details because their statements can strengthen your case considerably. If the threats are being made repeatedly through phone calls or messages, keep a threat diary noting each incident chronologically — this becomes invaluable evidence both for the police investigation and for any bail opposition proceedings later. Courts have repeatedly held that even a single credible threat to life, if proved, is sufficient to attract Section 351(3) of the BNS, so do not assume that you need a long pattern of harassment before the law will protect you.

If the harassment is happening online — through social media, messaging apps, or anonymous accounts — you have additional remedies under the Information Technology Act, 2000. Section 66C deals with identity theft, Section 66D covers cheating by personation using a computer resource, and Section 67 addresses the publication of obscene material electronically, all of which frequently accompany cyberstalking and online harassment campaigns. You can also file a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal in addition to your local police complaint for threats, particularly if the harasser is anonymous or is using a fake profile, since the cyber cell has specialised technical capability to trace IP addresses and device information that a regular police station may not readily have. Running both complaints in parallel — the FIR at the local police station and a cybercrime complaint — often produces faster results than relying on one channel alone.

Once the FIR is registered, the investigating officer is required to record your statement, collect the evidence you provide, and, where necessary, arrest the accused if the threat is serious enough to warrant custodial interrogation. If you fear for your immediate safety, you can also request the police for a Personal Security Officer or ask the court for protective orders under Section 163 of the BNSS (equivalent to Section 144 CrPC), which allows a magistrate to pass urgent orders to prevent an anticipated breach of peace or danger to life. In cases involving domestic or intimate-partner threats, remedies under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, including protection orders and residence orders, can run alongside the criminal complaint. Many clients who come to us worried about how to file a police complaint for threats are relieved to learn that the law allows these protective mechanisms to be pursued simultaneously with the criminal case, rather than one after the other.

If the accused is arrested, they may apply for bail, and this is where your role as the complainant becomes important again. You, or your advocate, can file a bail-opposition application bringing to the court's attention the seriousness of the threat, especially if it involved a death threat under the enhanced provisions of Section 351(3) BNS, the criminal history of the accused if any, and the likelihood of the accused influencing witnesses or repeating the offence if released. Courts are generally cautious about granting bail in cases of repeated or credible death threats, particularly where there is documentary evidence such as recorded calls or written messages, so a well-prepared bail opposition can make a real difference to your safety. If bail is granted despite your objections, you can also request conditions such as a restraint on contacting you directly or indirectly, which the court has the power to impose under the BNSS.

It often helps at this stage to consult experienced criminal law professionals who handle threat and harassment cases regularly, since the drafting of the complaint, the evidence you present, and the language used to describe the threat can materially affect how quickly the police and courts respond. Getting the wording right — for instance, clearly invoking Section 351(3) BNS rather than a vague reference to "harassment" — often makes the difference between an FIR registered the same day and one that gets delayed for weeks. You can reach out via Aapka Legal Advice for a confidential consultation on drafting your complaint, coordinating with the investigating officer, and, if needed, moving the appropriate court for protective directions. Their team has handled numerous cases of criminal intimidation, cyberstalking, and death threats, and can guide you through each procedural step without the guesswork that often causes victims to lose valuable time.

Beyond the criminal remedy, if the threats or harassment have also damaged your reputation — for example, if false and defamatory statements were circulated alongside the threats, on social media or within your community — you have an independent civil remedy for defamation under the general law of torts, as well as a criminal defamation remedy under Section 356 of the BNS (which replaced Section 499/500 IPC). A defamation suit can seek monetary damages and, importantly, a permanent injunction restraining the person from repeating the defamatory statements, which is often what victims want most — not just compensation, but for the harassment to stop for good. Many clients ask whether they should pursue defamation separately or alongside the threat complaint, and in most cases running both together, under proper legal guidance, produces the strongest overall outcome because it addresses both the safety concern and the reputational harm in one coordinated legal strategy.

It is worth mentioning that if you are unsure how the police are handling your case, or if you feel the investigation is not progressing, you are not without options even outside the regular judicial process. Several law firms today maintain a panel of retired judges — often former High Court or District Court judges — who are available for independent case evaluation, mediation in appropriate cases, and expert opinion on how strong your evidence is before you go further with prosecution or a parallel civil suit. This kind of guidance from a retired judge who has seen hundreds of similar matters can be extremely reassuring, especially for someone going through the stress of ongoing threats, because it gives you an experienced, neutral perspective on your case's strength and the likely timeline before your local court.

If your case involves a particularly serious or persistent threat to life, engaging a specialised criminal lawyer early is strongly advisable rather than trying to handle every police station visit and court appearance on your own. A dedicated criminal defence and prosecution-support advocate can liaise directly with the investigating officer, ensure the FIR captures the correct sections including Section 351(3) BNS for death threats, and represent you at bail hearings to make sure the accused does not walk free without conditions that protect you. You can review Top Criminal Lawyers in India | Aapka Legal Advice to find advocates experienced specifically in criminal intimidation, cyberstalking, and death threat cases, along with access to the panel of retired judges for independent case assessment before you finalise your legal strategy.

Throughout this process, remember that Indian law treats threats to life and safety with real seriousness, and delay in reporting is one of the few things that can genuinely weaken an otherwise strong case, both because evidence can be lost and because courts sometimes (wrongly, but in practice) view a late complaint with some suspicion. So if you are asking yourself how to file a police complaint for threats, harassment, or death threats, the practical answer is: document everything immediately, go to the correct police station without delay, insist on your FIR being registered under Section 351 of the BNS, escalate to the Superintendent of Police or the Magistrate if the local station refuses, run a parallel cybercrime complaint if any part of the harassment happened online, and get experienced legal support early so that your complaint, your bail opposition, and any defamation claim are all handled in a coordinated and effective way. Filing a police complaint for threats is not just paperwork — it is the first concrete legal step toward stopping the harassment and holding the person responsible accountable under the full force of Indian criminal law.