Four women prevented from visiting Sabarimala temple

Activists block a road to the Sabarimala temple, at Vadaserikara town in Pathanamthitta district. Pic/PTI

Four women hailing from Andhra Pradesh were on their way to the Samarimala temple when protesters blocked their path on Sunday and turned them away. At 10 am, two women accompanied by a male devotee were the first to face the wrath of the traditionalists.

The pilgrims were about to enter the main pathway at the foothills of the temple town to begin their trek to the shrine at the hilltop when protesters surrounded them. Sensing trouble, cops formed a security cordon around the two women and took them to the police control room at Pamba.

Inspector General of Police S Sreejith told the media that the two women said they undertook the pilgrimage to Sabarimala after they came to know that the Supreme Court had allowed the entry of all women into the temple.

"These women were part of a pilgrimage group from Andhra Pradesh and are visiting various temples in Kerala. When they were told about the protest, they decided that they would like to return and we took them to a vehicle parked at Nilackal," said Sreejith. The Supreme Court had on September 28 overturned a centuries-old practice that barred women of menstrual age (10-50 years) from entering the hill temple.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever