As two women below the age of fifty embarked upon their trek uphill to Sabarimala, Neelimala in Kerala on Wednesday morning saw mass protesters demonstrating against their advance. Ringed by protesters after they crossed the base camp, the women commenced on their trek to the Sabarimala temple. Kerala Police has been deployed at the spot to contain the situation even as further details emerge from the scene.
Last year on 28 September, the Supreme Court of India had lifted the ban on the entry of women between the ages of ten and fifty years to the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa. Four months down the line, two women by the names of Bindu and Kanakadurga, entered the temple to offer their prayers. Both women were under the age of fifty.
This was followed by a process of ‘purification’ in the temple premises. Protests broke out throughout the state of Kerala. They turned violent with stone-pelting agitators blocking the national highways.
[Cover image representational]
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