Woman who first entered Sabarimala, in hospital after alleged attack by mother-in-law: reports

Kanakadurga, one of the two women who entered Kerala’s Sabarimala earlier this month, has been allegedly attacked by her mother-in-law when she returned home, it was reported. She is in hospital, but stable, the report said. Kanakadurga had returned to her husband’s home at Angadippuram on Tuesday.

According to a report filed by New Indian Express, police said she was taken to Government District Hospital at Perinthalmanna after she suffered minor injuries on head.

Earlier this month, Kanakadurga (39) and Bindu Ammini (40) became the first women to enter the hill shrine, defying tradition. The Supreme Court in September had ordered the end of a ban on women of menstrual age – 10 to 50 years – from entering the shrine. Yet, women have been stopped from entering the shrine, with both the opposition parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress backing them.

Kanakadurga is in hospital after being attacked allegedly by her mother-in-law. She had returned home earlier today after nearly two weeks of going into hiding due to threats. However, when she returned home this morning, she was hit on the head allegedly by her mother-in-law. NDTV reported that she is stable and has been referred for some tests in the hospital.

The temple has constantly refused to follow the court order and visits by women have been opposed by “devotees” and political protesters. But Bindu and Kanakadurga entered with police escort just before dawn on January 2. The Kerala government led by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been supportive of the women and helped them with police protection. Vijayan has said that it was the government duty to follow the court order.

Kanakadurga is a civil servant and Bindu Ammini is a law lecturer at Kerala’s Kannur University. Both have said in various interviews since their visit to Sabarimala, that they had gone ahead to enter the shrine knowing that it posed threat to their lives. They said it was not just about devotion, but about equal rights for women.