Kerala Women's Commission chief resigns after drawing sharp criticism for asking woman to 'suffer'

Sources said she had been instructed by the party to tender her resignation

Kerala Women's Commission chairperson M C Josephine resigned from the post, a day after protest mounted against her over her alleged insensitive reply to a woman in distress to "suffer" domestic violence.

Josephine, who is a CPM central committee member, reportedly resigned following pressure from the party.

She was to hold the office of the chairperson for 10 more months.

It was during a live phone-in programme on a Malayalam channel that Josephine asked a woman who rang up to complain of domestic violence to "suffer" it as she did not report it to the police. The live phone-in programme to consider petitions of women also invited criticism as it revealed the identity of many complainants.

Also Read | Kerala Women's Commission head tells woman in distress to 'suffer'; apologises later

It was after visiting the family of a suspected dowry death victim in Kollam district on Thursday that Josephine stated that in case, dowry needs to be given it shall be credited to the bank account of brides. This invited criticism that the women's commission chairperson was favouring dowry.

Even as Josephine tendered an apology, various political parties continued stirs demanding her resignation. She had also made a similar controversial statement earlier.