The Supreme Court has ruled for the first time that the act of making neighbors feel uneasy by intentionally and repeatedly making inter-floor noise is punishable by the anti-stalking law.

The top court on Thursday upheld an eight-month prison sentence for an individual who was indicted on charges of violating the anti-stalking law.

In issuing the verdict, the court said the individual’s repeated and continuous acts that were sufficient to incite fear and anxiety to others come within the purview of a crime of stalking. 

The court said the accused appears to have made noise with intent to harass neighbors, citing that the individual had refused to let police inside their house despite the officers’ request, ignored attempts by neighbors to engage in dialogue and had filed a complaint against neighbors on stalking charges. 

The accused began making noise from the end of 2021 in retaliation of surrounding inter-floor noise after they began residing at a villa. 

The individual hit the wall with tools from late evening to early dawn or turned up the volume of their stereo, prompting a number of neighbors to move away.