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Case on Malayalam magazine for breastfeeding photo

Lawyer complains against indecent representation of women.

KOLLAM: A women’s magazine has courted trouble by carrying a ‘breastfeed picture’ of a model on its cover in its latest issue. The picture carried by the Grihalakshmi magazine showed model Gilu Joseph breastfeeding a baby as part of a campaign to uphold the right of women to breastfeed in public without hesitation. The tagline read ‘Don’t stare, we want to breastfeed.’ Mr Vinod Mathew Wilson, a lawyer here, has filed a criminal case at the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here under section 3 and 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act of 1986. He has alleged that the picture was not in good faith and that it was an affront to women.

“The Act has certain exemptions like in the case of cinema and other forms of art, say paintings by Raja Ravi Varma, which are in good faith. In this case, they could have given an original mother feeding her child if they had genuine concern about ‘staring.’ Here the cover picture is just for the sake of marketing the product,” he told this n ewspaper. “Is there any case registered in the courts of Kerala against men staring at women while breastfeeding?” he asked.

The petition has accused the management representatives and editors of the magazine P.V. Gangadharan, P.V. Chandran, M.P. Gopinath and the model with the offences under the Act. It prohibits advertisements containing indecent representation of women and publication or sending by post of books, pamphlets, etc., containing indecent representation of women. Any person who contravenes the provisions of section 3 or section 4 shall be punishable on first conviction with imprisonment of two years and fine of Rs 2,000.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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