Harassing Women For Rejecting Love Proposals Punishable: Kerala CM

The harassment of women rejecting love proposals will invite stringent punishment, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the state assembly Wednesday.

This assurance comes amid growing cases, in Kerala and elsewhere in the country, of often male jilted lovers attacking, stalking, or abusing women who reject their advances.

Vijayan, who assumed his top seat this year after a historic re-election to office, further added that state authorities would keep track of repeat offenders to ensure they would not resort to atrocities or other extreme steps if women around them choose to turn them away.

The CM said in assembly the police were "already taking stringent measures" in such cases of harassment and brought to notice the issue of cybercrime and psychological angles of the matter, according to PTI. 

Cases Of Women Rejecting Love Proposals Turning Violent

A prominent case from last month was brought up in the state assembly wherein a 24-year-old dental college student in Ernakulam district was killed allegedly by a man who later took his own life, as per reports. Friends revealed the woman was not keen on pursuing a romantic relationship with the man, which could have possibly prompted the attack.

Also in Kerala, a 21-year-old woman was murdered in June this year by her stalker in a case of planned assault. He reportedly also injured her 13-year-old sister who had to be hospitalised for treatment. Earlier this year in Hyderabad, a woman was stabbed by a male stalker for rejecting his proposal, suffering multiple injuries on her body.

In another case from Bengaluru, a woman was pushed into a well by someone she knew from Instagram, who had proposed marriage to her. The woman, married, had met the man in person after they spoke on the social media app. After explaining why she could not marry him, she was pushed and left to die in the well. Villagers later sounded the alarm and police rescued her.