Indian police constable suspended for receiving kiss from woman while in uniform

Incident was recorded by onlookers and shared widely on social media

Police personnel stand at Marina beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (AFP via Getty Images)

A police constable in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been suspended for allegedly accepting a kiss on the cheek from a woman while he was in uniform.

The policeman, 29-year-old V Balaji, was suspended on Saturday for “indecent behaviour” after a video of the peck on the cheek went viral on social media.

The man was posted with the armed reserve police in Coimbatore city, which he joined in 2017. He reportedly lives with his wife and two children at the police quarters.

On Friday, he was talking to a woman, reportedly related to his wife, at a park when she planted a kiss on his cheek. Mr Balaji was wearing his service uniform at the time.

The incident was filmed by a group of people, who forwarded the video to the Coimbatore city police.

“As Balaji was in uniform at the time of the incident, deputy commissioner of police Muralidharan placed him under suspension on Saturday,” the Times of India quoted an officer as saying.

In India, kissing in public is only a criminal act if it falls under the purview of obscenity and according to the “annoyance of others”. Under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code, “obscene acts and songs” are punishable offences with a prison term of up to three months, or with a fine, or with both.