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Regular-article-logo Saturday, 04 May 2024

Women who entered Sabarimala appeal for 24x7 security in Supreme Court

Top court will hear the appeal on Friday

PTI New Delhi Published 17.01.19, 08:29 AM
In the plea, one of the women who was allegedly attacked by her mother-in-law following her entry into the shrine, has sought security for both the women.

In the plea, one of the women who was allegedly attacked by her mother-in-law following her entry into the shrine, has sought security for both the women. Telegraph file photo

The Supreme Court will hear on Friday a plea by two women seeking round-the-clock security after they recently entered the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising listed the plea on behalf of Kanakadurga, 44, and Bindu, 42, before the bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices L.N. Rao and S.K. Kaul on Thursday.

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On September 28, 2018, a Supreme Court judgment had allowed women of all ages to enter the temple, calling the entry bar on women of reproductive age a matter of gender discrimination.

In the plea, one of the women who was allegedly attacked by her mother-in-law following her entry into the shrine, has sought security for both the women.

The plea sought directions to all authorities to allow women of all age groups to enter the temple without any hindrance and to ensure security and safe passage, including police security to those women wishing to enter the temple in the future. It also pointed to danger to her life and liberty.

'Issue writ of mandamus directing authorities to provide full security, 24x7, to the two women who have entered the temple, and to deal with protesters indulging in acts of violence, physical and/or verbal on social media or otherwise against them in accordance with the law,' the petition said.

It sought directions declaring all authorities not to conduct purification rites or to shut the temple if any woman entered it.

The two women had stepped into the Sabarimala temple of Lord Ayyappa, breaking a centuries-old tradition, and after defying threats from the Hindutva outfits.

Kanakadurga and Bindu had stepped into the shrine guarded by police three months after the judgment. Following the entry of the women into the shrine, the chief priest had decided to close the sanctum sanctorum of the temple to perform a purification ceremony.

The top court has said it may not start hearing pleas seeking a review of the Sabarimala verdict from January 22 as one of the judges was on medical leave.

There are around 48 petitions seeking review of the judgment and they were filed following violent protests for months in Kerala.

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