Pampa: Amidst confusion over the visit of a 46-year-old Sri Lankan woman to the Sabarimala temple on Thursday night, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has confirmed that “a third woman” had indeed visited the sannidhanam. “Why nobody wants to call a hartal and undertake purification in the temple,” he asked on Friday.
The woman identified as Sasikala, reached Saba-rimala on Thursday night with her family. Plainclothed officers escorted her to the temple and she prayed in front of the sanctum at 9.30 pm. They accompanied her downhill to Pampa by 11.30 pm. Her passport gave her date of birth as December 3, 1972.
However, Sasikala told reporters at Pampa that she did not worship and that the police had sent her back. “I am a devotee. I wanted to pray, I had completed the 48-day vratham (penance). Who are they to send me back?" she asked. She also said that her uterus had been removed for medical reasons and hence she had the right to go to the temple. “I am a devotee, I have a medical certificate,” she said. Her husband told the media that they went only till Marakootam, which lies one km from the sanctum. According to him, the policemen in mufti retreated when they saw a camera crew. He and their son made the darshan, while Sasikala returned.
Meanwhile, Sporadic hartal-spillover violence was reported from parts of the State, but there were signs that the police action against agitators had paid off. There were no fresh incidents in the wake of the darshan by a young woman from Sri Lanka on Friday.
Ban orders were imposed in a few places that bore the brunt of violence on Thursday. Suspected rightwing elements hurled bombs at the residence of Malabar Devaswom Board member K Sasikumar at Perambra in Kozhikode early Friday, the police said. Similar explosives were hurled at a mobile shop in Adoor in Pathanamthitta. Four incidents, in which crude bombs were used, were reported in Kannur.
Miscreants set on fire a BJP office in Kannur. A number of houses of the BJP and the ruling CPM activists were attacked and pelted with stones in Pathanamthitta, Kannur, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.
Pathanamthitta CPM district secretariat member T D Biju’s house was attacked. Reports said a total of 50 houses belonging to CPM and BJP activists were damaged in stone-throwing in Pathanamthitta. In the State capital, miscreants had a field day in Kattakada suburbs. Three country bombs wrapped in plastic were seized in Malayinkeezhu.
The police on Friday reconfirmed that the Lankan woman Sasikala had darshan at the temple. They also claimed video footage of her entering the shrine and said they were ready to produce it if sought by a court or any competent legal authority. Since it is linked to the right to privacy, they did not make it public.
The woman and her family had informed the police in advance about their visit and sought their protection.
The tantri has not proceeded to take action because he was not sure whether the woman had darshan.
Meanwhile, a transgender named Kayal, who arrived at Pampa around 6 a.m. on Friday, was turned away by the police following protests from devotees. Kayal, who had come wearing a sari, later changed to men's clothes and tried to trek the hills with the ‘irumudikettu.’ Four transgenders had recently offered prayers at Sabarimala wearing black saris.
