Massive protests at Sabarimala after 2 women, dressed as men try to enter shrine

Thiruvananthapuram: Days after two women offered their prayers at Sabarimala temple here,  protests erupted at the hilltop shrine as two other women, dressed as men on Wednesday morning attempted to enter the temple to offer their prayers.

The women, identified as Reshma and Sanila said to be in their 30s covered almost half of the 5.5 km trek to the shrine but were intercepted by angry devotees.

Though the women had started the trek in the early morning hours, but were identified and encircled by the protestors despite their disguise. As the situation turned tense, police plead helplessness saying it is beyond their control. Later, women were taken to Pambha, the base camp after they were blocked for two hours.

Kanaka Durga, along with 40-year-old Bindu Ammini, are the first women below 50 in decades to enter the hilltop shrine. Durga was attacked by her relatives on her return home on Monday.

The Supreme Court in September last year allowed women of all ages to worship at the Sabarimala shrine, overturning a centuries-old ban on women of childbearing age from entering the temple.