Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP K Muraleedharan was on Tuesday booked by police for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Thiruvananthapuram city corporation Mayor Arya Rajendran, police said.
Police said a case has been registered against the Congress leader under IPC sections 354A (Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) on the basis of the complainant filed by Rajendran, a CPI(M) member, alleging that he had insulted her womanhood by making derogatory remarks against her during a protest in front of the corporation office on Monday.
Addressing Congress workers during a protest seeking action against corporation officials allegedly involved in a revenue scam, Muraleedharan had said that the Mayor is looking beautiful but what comes out of her mouth was more terrible than the ‘Kodungallur Bharani songs’.
The Kodungallur Bharani songs are folk songs mixed with abusive words sung at the famous Devi temple in Kodungallur in Thrissur district during the famous Meena Bharani festival there. Such songs are sung by thousands of oracles assemble at the temple as part of a ritual on the occasion. Meanwhile, Muraleedharan today expressed regret over his remarks, saying it was not meant to hurt anyone but slammed the Mayor for the alleged corruption in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation.
“I regret if my remarks have caused mental distress to anyone personally. I do not hesitate to say it. I do not want any of my statements to hurt anyone personally”, the Vatakara MP said in a Facebook post.
He, however, said he doesn’t see anything vulgar in saying that someone is beautiful. Muraleedharan alleged that the corporation was witnessing unprecedented corruption in the LDF rule and the Mayor could not shirk from her responsibilities. Both the CPI(M) and its youth outfit DYFI have flayed Muraleedharan for his remarks against 22-year-old Rajendran, one of the youngest Mayors in the country. She became the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram at the age of 21 after the CPI(M)-led LDF swept the local body polls held last year.
