Activist Rehana Fathima, who was the target of ire of Hindu rightwing groups for attempting to enter the Sabarimala temple, has served a one-day imprisonment and paid a fine of Rs 2.1 lakh in a cheque fraud case.
Fathima appeared before the CJM court in Alappuzha district in Kerala on Monday to serve the sentence and pay the fine. The case against Fathima is related to a loan availed by her from a financier in Alappuzha.
According to reports, the complainant, Anil Kumar, had loaned Fathima Rs 2 lakh in 2014. When she gave a cheque to repay the amount, it bounced, prompting Kumar to file a complaint against her. Fathima had been convicted by the CJM court in 2014, but she approached the Kerala High Court. The High Court, however, upheld Fathima's conviction.
Fathima had made headlines in October 2018 when she attempted to trek to Sabarimala. Fathima and a woman journalist from Hyderabad were forced to turn back from the Sannidhanam as the temple priests threatened to shut the shrine's doors. While Fathima insisted she was a believer, opponents attacked her trek to Sabarimala as a publicity stunt.
She was arrested in November for making Facebook posts that allegedly offended religious sentiments.
Fathima, a BSNL employee who has also done modelling work, has attracted controversy before. In March 2018, Fathima posted images of herself posing with watermelons topless after a male professor criticised women for wearing revealing clothes. The images went viral and even led to Facebook suspending Fathima's account. Fathima had also taken part in the 'Kiss of Love' campaign against moral policing in Kochi in 2014.
