Tension prevailed Wednesday morning in Kerala’s Nilakkal, the main gateway to Sabarimala, after the police used force to disperse devotees opposing the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the hill shrine. Acting tough, the police, deployed in large numbers in Nilakkal, some 20 kms away from the Sabarimala hilltop, also removed a makeshift shelter erected by a protesting group Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samiti.
The protesting group of devotees had been staging a sit-in chanting Ayyappa mantra in the shelter in protest against the Supreme Court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the shrine. Protesting women had said no women belonging to the banned age group of 10-50 will be allowed to travel further from Nilackal and offer worship at the shrine. The temple would be closed on October 22 after the five-day monthly prayer during the Malayalam month of Thulam.
Here are the Live Updates
Kerala: 50 people have been taken into custody in Pathanamthitta district for protesting against entry of women in age group 10 to 50 to Sabarimala temple.
1:03 pm: Kerala: Over 20 people including former Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan taken into custody in Nilakkal and Pamba for protesting against entry of women in age group 10 to 50 to Sabarimala temple.
12:48 pm: Kerela: Congress party leaders hold a peaceful protest in Nilakkal against the entry of women in the age group of 10-50 to Sabarimala Temple.
WhatsApp us