Transperson faces protest at Sabarimala temple

Pampa: A young transgender person worshipped at the Sabarimala temple on Tuesday after she was initially stopped at Pampa by the police. There were also unconfirmed reports that more women below the age of 50 had darshan there.

The transgender, Ajitha, 27, from Chennai reached here at 8.30 a.m. and police asked for her ID card. As she did not have it, she was kept at the Pampa station for a while.

 Later, she was allowed to go to Sannidanam by 12 noon. When Ajitha reached the entry point of the Swami Ayyappan road, a group of protesters stopped  her asking for her ID proof. When she threatened to drop her cloth to prove her gender, the protesters let her proceed to sannidhanam.

Reports said that a woman, Sinkari Sreeniv-asan, 47, had darshan on Monday.

 However, the police said after checking her ID that she was 52. “The confusion arose as  the age in the virtual queue registration  coupon was mentioned wrongly by another person,” the police said.

It was also reported that two Tamil women below 50 had darshan on January 2. The CCTV visuals show two women moving through  Marakkoottam, but  the police did not confirm it.