One of the two women who managed to enter the Sabarimala temple was attacked with pepper spray when she was entering the shrine. Ammini and Activist Trupti Desai had reached the Kochi commissioner office to seek police security.
Bindu Ammini, one of the two women who had managed to enter the Sabarimala temple on January 2, this year, was attacked with a pepper spray while she was on her way to the shrine along with Pune-based activist Trupti Desai.
Ammini and Desai had reached the Kochi commissioner office to seek police security for their visit after arriving at the Kochi International Airport in the wee hours of Tuesday along with five other women.
Officials said that a group of right-wing leaders apparently indulged in a heated argument with Ammini, following which they sprinkled chili powder on her face. The woman has been rushed to a hospital.
Desai, the Pune-based activist, said they preferred November 26 to visit the shrine as it was Constitution Day. She said she has come up with the 2018 order of the Supreme Court permitting entry of women of all age groups into the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
"I will leave Kerala only after offering prayers at the shrine," the activist said.
Ammini, a lecturer at Kerala's Kannur University, had entered the temple earlier this year and offer prayers along with Kanakadurga.
In December, Ammini joined a Facebook group for women who were interested in visiting the temple. She connected with Kanakadurga, 39, a government employee who came from a Hindu family that had opposed the Supreme Court's verdict to allow women of menstruating age to undertake the holy trek. The women teamed up. Some 4,000 women had registered similar intentions with police.
On December 24, they made a first attempt to reach the temple, but retreated after a mob attacked police officers who were escorting the women. Officials encouraged them to forget it and return home, but Ammini refused.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.