After trekking 5km towards the Sabarimala temple with 300 policemen in riot gear, two women who set out to reach the sannidhanam have agreed to return. They turned back just 500kms away from the temple after the priests of the temple threatened that the rituals will be stopped if the enter the shrine of Lord Ayyapa.
The women were met with protests from around a dozen priests who sat on the steps chanting and clapping. The two women, a journalist, Kavitha Jakkala of Mojo TV from Hyderabad, and Rehana Fathima, an activist from Kochi, turned back just metres away from the famous 18 steps of the sannidhanam. Police, led by IG S, Sreejith had thrown a security ring around the women who had requested security to go to Sabarimala Sannidhanam.
Earlier, the women had begun climbing the hill amid strong protests. Ayyappa devotees who oppose the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the temple have been disrupting the journey of women who want to visit the temple. A New Delhi-based woman reporter of New York Times had made a failed bid to visit the temple. She was stopped midway by devotees opposing the entry of women of menstrual age into the hill shrine. The journalist was accompanied by her male colleague, a foreigner, descended the hills from Marakkoottam area in the face of mounting protests.
A case has been registered against devotees who allegedly prevented her trekking and forced her to climb down the hills.
(With inputs from PTI)
