Domestic Violence Row: Women’s Commission Chief Josephine Resigns

This comes after her rude response to a woman who complained of domestic violence went viral and sparked outrage.

The Kerala Women’s Commission chief’s unkind comments on domestic violence victims on live TV sparked a row, following which she resigned from her post.

(Photo: Twitter/@MufeedsThesni)

A day after Kerala Women’s Commission Chairperson MC Josephine’s remark on a Malayalam news channel sparked a row, she resigned from her post. The decision was announced following a CPI(M) state secretariat meeting.

Josephine received sharp criticism from many on social media and off it over her rude reply to a Kochi native woman who called her to inform about domestic violence at a phone-in programme conducted by a Malayalam news channel.

Opposition parties, including the Congress and BJP, had demanded her resignation.

On the TV show, a young woman told Josephine that she faced harassment at the hands of her husband and her mother-in-law. Josephine, who sounded irritated with the woman for a sound in the background during the phone call, asked her if she had approached the police. When the victim said no, Josephine said, “Then, you suffer.”

The controversial incident took place at the programme conducted by Manorama News on 23 June, where women facing domestic abuse could call in and directly raise their complaints with the Women’s Commission Chairperson.

Though Josephine appeared curt and rude with some of the callers in the one-hour programme, she answered others with more patience than on display in the viral clip.

On 24 June, in her first reaction, Josephine had claimed that she did not make such a comment. She claimed that her statements were being twisted. When the protests intensified, Josephine apologised in the evening and said that she was only speaking like a stern mother.

According to reports, the CPI(M) was unhappy with Josephine and with outrage pouring in over several recent dowry deaths, Josephine’s actions brought embarrassment to the party.

This is not the first time that Josephine sparked controversy and made insensitive remarks. Earlier in January, a similar harsh reply to a complainant had sparked a row. An 87-year-old woman’s relative, who was assaulted by a neighbour, had requested Josephine to shift the hearing to a nearby place so that the ailing complainant can attend it. However, Josephine reportedly asked harshly why an 87-year-old was made to file the complaint. In the audio, Josephine was also heard calling the complainant “thalla”, a colloquial word in Malayalam that is used to refer rudely to an old woman.

In June 2020 also, there were demands to remove Josephine from the post following another controversial remark. During a media interaction after visiting a woman who was gang-raped, Josephine got miffed by a question from a journalist about such cases against CPI(M) members.

She said that the Women’s Commission takes action against CPI(M) leaders in an impartial manner and that her “party also functioned as a court and police station”.

Josephine is a central committee and state committee member of the CPI(M). The party's state secretariat, therefore, asked for her resignation.

(This article was originally published in The News Minute and then republished here with permission.)