Senior Kerala IPS officer Rishi Raj Singh has created a furore with his comment that if a man stares at a woman for 14 seconds he can be charged with harassment. However not everyone was amused with his definition of harassament with sports minister EP Jayarajan terming the comments as "disgusting".

(This story originally appeared in on Aug 16, 2016)

'It's harassment if you stare at a woman for 14 seconds'

Senior Kerala IPS officer Rishi Raj Singh has created a furore with his comment that if a man stares annoyingly at a woman for 14 seconds he can be charged with harassment . However not everyone was amused with Singh's specific definition of harassament with sports minister EP Jayarajan terming the comments as "disgusting".He even said that he would ask the excise minister to examine the speech made by the IPS officer. Excise commissioner Rishi Raj Singh was addressing a state-level empowerment programme for students at Kochi on Sunday when he told the participants that if a man annoyingly stares at a woman for 14 seconds a case can be registered against him. He also asked the girls and women to carry a knife or pepper spray in their handbags for self-defence."Do you carry a knife or chilly or pepper spray in your bags? if you don't the time is long overdue for you to do so," he reportedly told the participants. Martial arts is another option of self-defence for women, he added exhorting women to instantly react and inform the police if they were harassed by men. Reacting to Rishi Raj Singh's "14 seconds stare" statement, sports minister Jayarajan described it as "disgusting". Jayarajan said he will bring this to the notice of the excise minister and ask him to examine the controversial speech.Last year the UDF government had initiated action against Singh for allegedly breaching protocol at a function attended by home minister Ramesh Chennithala. An inquiry was initiated after Singh had failed to stand up and salute the minister when the latter arrived at the Police Academy in Thrissur for a passing out parade.Singh was then ADGP, Armed Forces Battalion. He had been posted there after being removed as chief vigilance officer, Kerala State Electricity Board after he upset many in the ruling party by conducting surprise raids against power thefts.