Breastfeeding cover photo: Case registered against Kerala magazine, model Gilu Joseph

A day after the cover picture of a Malayalam magazine depicting a model breastfeeding sparked a controversy, a case has been registered against the magazine and the model for being 'indecent'.

Reports said that the case was registered by advocate Vinod Matthew against the publisher and the model in the CJM court of Kollam in Kerala. The charges have been filed under Section 3 and 4 of indecent representation of women (Prohibition) act 1986. 

The case will be heard on March 16.

Malayalam magazine Grihalakshmi's cover on March 1 issue stirred up a conversation about breastfeeding in public. As usual, Twitter gave mixed reactions to Gilu Joseph's bold avatar with most lauding her attempt of trying to normalise a "natural phenomenon" in a society that often sexualises the act. 

The cover featured 27-year-old model, poet, writer Gilu Joseph breastfeeding a child. The text below the image read: "Mothers tell Kerala, 'please don't stare, we need to breastfeed."

This is not the first time the issue of public breastfeeding has been discussed on a Global platform. Last year Australian MP Larissa Waters addressed the Parliament while breastfeeding her 14-week-old baby girl.

Magazines like Time and Babytalk too have featured such cover pages drawing applause and critic in equal amounts.