Sabarimala row: In a first, 2 women below 50 enter temple after SC verdict

The two women had attempted to visit Sabarimala temple in December last year but failed amidst massive protests

Latest News: Two women devotees, below the age of 50 years, have entered the renowned Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala for the first time, months after the Supreme Court overturned a ban on the entry of females of menstrual age (10-50 years) from visiting the shrine.

The two Keralite women, Bindu and Kanakadurga, who are in their 40s, entered the temple premises and offered prayers at around 3:45 am on Wednesday. They were accompanied by police personnel.

The two women had attempted to visit Sabarimala temple in December last year but failed amidst massive protests.The top court had lifted a traditional ban on entry of women in the barred age group on September 28 last year.

Despite the apex court’s ruling on the matter, a string of protests took place at the Sabarimala temple and its surrounding areas in the state, wherein several women attempted to visit the shrine, but were stopped by Lord Ayyappa devotees.|Read More: BS

After Sabarimala controversy, BSNL transfers activist Rehana Fathima

Sabarimala Karma Samithi Tuesday organised a protest march to the Palarivattom BSNL office, seeking her expulsion

Activist Rehana Fathima, a BSNL employee who had made an attempt to enter the Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, has been transferred to the Palarivattom telephone exchange in the city where public contact is not required, sources said.| Business Standard 

Fathima, a telecom technician working in the customer relations section at the Boat Jetty branch here, was Tuesday transferred to the telephone exchange at Palarivattom, the sources said. However, the sources said she |BS|has not committed dereliction of duty. Sabarimala Karma Samithi Tuesday organised a protest march to the Palarivattom BSNL office, seeking her expulsion.

The Kerala Muslim Jama’ath Council had expelled Fathima from the Muslim community for “hurting sentiments of lakhs of Hindu devotees”. The activist’s house was allegedly vandalised by unidentified people while she was away trying to climb the holy hills on Friday last.| Latest News 

She made a failed attempt to reach the temple with heavy police protection. The attackers reached Fathima’s house in Panambilly Nagar here while she was climbing the hills.

Fathima, a model and activist who was part of the ‘Kiss of Love’ movement in Kochi in 2014 against alleged moral policing, was among the two women who had reached the hilltop, but had to return before reaching the sanctum sanctorum following massive protests by Ayyappa devotees.

Read Full Story : Sabarimala  Temple