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Kerala Bureaucrat Makes Up A Law: Staring At A Woman For 14 Seconds Can Land You In Jail

Erm..what?
Kerala Excise Commissioner Rishiraj Singh has made up a new law.
Screenshot/YouTube
Kerala Excise Commissioner Rishiraj Singh has made up a new law.

If you are in Kerala, always remember to carry a stop-watch. Why you ask? Well, because if you stare at a woman for 14 seconds, you can land in jail.

Bizarre, you say?

Well, not for Kerala Excise Commissioner Rishiraj Singh.

At an event organised by a charitable trust in Kochi, where he was talking about women's safety, Singh said, "There are sections in law to jail a man for annoyingly staring at a woman for 14 seconds. Please use it (the provisions in the law), if it is the case."

Singh also emphasised on how important it is for women to learn martial arts as a life skill.

He had a tip too: "Carry knives and chili spray in your bags to protect yourselves from such elements," he said.

While Singh's words drew varied reactions on social media, Kerala Sports Minister E P Jayarajan termed them as "irritating".

"The remarks are 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 told reporters.

Supreme Court lawyer K V Dhananjaya told India Today that it was "mindless" statement to make. "There is no such provision in any law of this country and there cannot be such a mindless provision of law in any other country of the world. Period," he said.

Meanwhile, Twitter has found its victim of the day in the Kerala bureaucrat.

Expect a rise in usage of stopwatches in Kerala. #14secondrule#rishirajsingh

— Varun Nair (@varunnair) August 15, 2016

Singh is not new to controversy. Last year in July, he was in trouble for not saluting the then Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala at a passing out parade in Thrissur.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.