PAMPA: Protesting devotees continued to prevent young women from entering Sabarimala temple for the fifth day on Sunday. They turned back five women below 50 from Gundoor, Telangana, halfway.
At 10 am, two young women — Adhiseshan, 41, and Vasanti, 42, — along with seven elderly women, who were trekking to the hill shrine without seeking police protection, were stopped right in front of Swamy Ayyappan Road.
They asked the women scared by frenzied chants of Ayyappa slogans to show their identity proof. But they didn’t have any documents to prove their age. When the women moved forward, a few men lay down on the ground, obstructing them. Meanwhile, a woman from AP, Ballamma, fainted when protesters blocked her path.
Cops intervene, run background check on women
As the protesting mob grew, the police intervened and moved the women safely to the guard room and checked their background.
Inspector-general S. Sreejith told reporters that they came on pilgrimage in a group which had visited various temples in South India. They had not sought police protection as they were unaware of the temple’s customs and the Supreme Court verdict overturning it.
The IG also said the police would book those who stopped the women. A few hours later at around 2.30 pm, a woman Pushpalatha, 46, had to return before trekking.
