Almost a week after a Kerala woman broke off her wedding minutes after the thaalikettu ceremony at Guruvayur temple, social media harassment towards the woman continues.
Last Sunday, the woman, Geeta* who was forced to get married to Suresh*, although she was in a relationship with another man, walked away from the marriage.
While the woman reportedly went back to her parents, many people on various social networks including Facebook and WhatsApp, abused and harassed her for breaking off the wedding.
Vitriolic comments and judgments came her way on social media platforms, most of them slamming her for "betraying the groom and bringing shame to her own family."
Now, the Kerala State Women's Commission has registered a case on the vitriolic social media trolls against the woman. The commission registered the case on Friday, after Guruvayur MLA Abdul Khader sought the intervention of the Commission, pointing out that many of the details on social media about the wedding were false.
Visiting the woman's house on Saturday, Commission Chairperson Josephine told Asianet News that the commission has recorded her statement.
"She is in trauma because of all the negative things going on around her action. What did she do? She walked out of a marriage she was not interested in, or did not consent to. That's her decision, no one can say anything on that," Josephine said.
Saying that such erratic and irresponsible use of social media platforms shall be curtailed, Josephine said that action will be taken after conducting an inquiry.
The chairperson also commented on the ‘deal’ that was struck between Geeta and Suresh’s families after Geeta walked out. Her family had promised to ‘compensate’ Suresh’s family with Rs 8 lakh.
Commenting on this, Josephine said that the idea of compensating the groom's family was wrong.
"It is the woman who had to face problems and it is not fair to pay compensation to the groom's family to settle the matter," she was quoted as saying.