Kiss of Love

2014 Kiss of Love
Date	2nd Nov 2014 - ongoing
Location	Trivandrum, Kochi, New Delhi, Mumbai, Calicut, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai
Caused by	multiple instances of moral policing
Methods	protest by kissing, hugging and holding hands, Liplock kissing
Casualties
Arrested	around 50
Charged	around 100

Kiss of Love protest was a non-violent protest against moral policing which started in Kerala, India, and later spread to other parts of India. The movement began when a Facebook page called 'Kiss of love' called forth the youth across Kerala to participate in a protest against moral policing on November 2, 2014, at Marine Drive, Cochin. The movement received widespread support with more than 154,404 'Likes' for the Facebook page. After the initial protest in Kochi, similar protests were organised in other major cities of the country. It received opposition from various religious and political groups like Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, SDPI, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Sena and Ernakulam wing of Kerala Students Union. On specific occasions but not exclusively, both the Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court have made it clear that kissing in public is not an obscene act and no criminal proceedings can be initiated, for kissing in public, through landmark judgments.

There were several instances of moral policing in Kerala in the 2000s. In 2011, a 26-year-old youth was killed by a mob in Kodiyathur, Kerala, for allegedly having an affair with a married woman. All of the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2014. In June 2014, a female theatre artiste and her male colleague were detained in police custody for traveling together at night, which stirred protests against moral policing on social media. In July 2013, police arrested a couple from a beach in Alappuzha for suspected “immoral activity” as the woman was not wearing any accessories to suggest that she was married. In April 2013, an artist from Kochi was harassed by two policewomen when she went for a stroll on Marine Drive with a male friend. In June 2012, a gang of men attacked and beat up a pregnant woman sitting alone in a bus shelter in Kannur. The woman's husband had asked her to rest while he went to a nearby ATM since she was heavily pregnant. In June 2011, An IT professional, on her way to work at Kochi's IT park, was accosted by a group of drunken men because she was riding pillion on a male colleague's bike. The drunken men argued with her, and then abused and slapped her. Several similar cases have been reported throughout Kerala.

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