Thiruvananthapuram: A bus stop bench in the Kerala capital has been reduced to three separate seats as a measure to moral police to prevent girls and boys from sitting together made students of both sexes from a nearby engineering college to sit on each others laps and post pictures of the same online.
While Thiruvananthapuram city Mayor Arya S Rajendran supported the students' stand, residents did not approve of the conduct and behaviour of the College of Engineering, Trivandrum (CET) students inside the bus stand during the day and even late at night.
The bench was converted into three seats as part of renovating the dilapidated structure and keeping in mind COVID-19 guidelines to maintain social distancing, according to the residents.
Mayor Rajendran visited the area on Thursday after the photographs posted on social media by the students of (CET) went viral. After visiting the area, the Mayor, in a Facebook post, said the manner in which the bench was cut into three seats was not only "inappropriate", but also "unbecoming of a progressive society" like that of Kerala.
She said that there is no ban on girls and boys sitting together in our state and those who still believe there should be such a prohibition are still living in ancient times.
She also told media present there that residents of the area have a different way of thinking as many of them are old timers. Engineering students from CET, who were present when the mayor visited, told scribes that this was not the first time they were faced with such a situation.
They face moral policing on a regular basis whenever they are walking around in that area with a friend who is of the opposite sex.
"We have been suffering this for a long time and therefore, we decided it was about time we reacted to it. We, of course, never expected the photographs to go viral. We were just attempting to ensure that such moral policing does not occur in future.
"This is a bus shelter we built for people to wait for the bus. If they want to sit together, let them do so inside the college campus. We do not approve of their behaviour," some of the local residents told reporters.
"Earlier also three people could sit and even now they can. Moreover, the work was hardly over. A lot of work was yet to be done. However, if the local authorities want to build a modern structure, we welcome it wholeheartedly," they said.
Mayor Rajendran further said the bus stand was dilapidated, unauthorised and lacking clearance from the Public Works Department and therefore, a new gender neutral one with modern facilities will be built there by the local authorities.
