Women from rights group to head to Sabarimala

“While 10 to 12 of them are from Chennai, others — numbering nearly 30 women — will join us from other States at Sabarimala,” said Selvi of Manithi on Thursday.

Selvi, one of the coordinators of the organisation, claimed that the women from Manithi may go on the pilgrimage in different trains.

“As of now we are planning to go in different trains. We don’t want to make it a big event. We are co-ordinating with the Kerala police, who have promised to extend all help to us,” she said.

Faced with protests by many groups there, the police in Kerala have been dissuading women devotees from going to the Ayyappa temple. According to Selvi, though they are aware that the police officers were not discouraging women devotees between the age of 10 and 50, she said they still hoped that the cops there would help the group in completing their pilgrimage.

Despite the Supreme Court order asking authorities to not stop women in menstuating age from vising the hill shrine, Sabarimala has witnessed protests and even violence by right wing activists. In the last two months since the verdict was delivered, no woman has managed entered the temple.  

Manithi members will be the first group of women below 50 years travelling together to the temple after the SC verdict.

These members believe that they stand a better chance to enter the temple because they were going in a group. “It is better we reach the temple as group on Sunday. In the earlier occasions, the police there managed to dissuade the women visitors because they were travelling alone,” Selvi added.