File Photo of excise commissioner Rishiraj Singh.
A senior Kerala officer's comment that continuous staring at a women for 14 seconds can land a woman in jail, has raised hoots of derision in social media. A state minister has called it "irritating".
"If a boy stares at a girl for 14 seconds, just 14 seconds, the girl can file a FIR and have the boy in the lock up," excise commissioner Rishiraj Singh had said last week.
According to the Indian Penal Code, in such cases, time is not a factor. What matters is the act. If a woman feels a man's stare is obscene or offensive, she can register a complaint with the police, who will have to register a case.
Kerala Sports Minister EP Jayarajan found the remarks "irritating". "If a bureaucrat makes remarks which are not in law, certainly the minister concerned will examine it and necessary steps will be taken," he added.
But the official's comment became a butt of jokes on Twitter.Varsha Vijayan, a student said, "Fourteen seconds is absurd. I don't understand the context".
Not everyone was laughing, though. Another undergraduate student, Anoop, said, "The social framework in our state is not right and staring is huge problem. These laws are required and one has to understand the spirit in which he spoke".