Sabarimala row: Police probe death threat to women


Malappuram: Perinthalmanna police have begun a probe after the One Stop Centre, where one of the first women entrants to Sabarimala temple, Kanakadurga, is staying, received an anonymous threat letter. The neighbourhood’s circle inspector T S Binu has said that as of now they were clueless about who wrote the letter.

The letter read that the sentences of both Kanakadurga and Bindu Ammini would be carried out after the elections. The duo created history by becoming the first women of the menstrual age group to offer prayers at the Ayyappa shrine after the Supreme Court verdict.

When Kanaka entered her house after the visit, she was reportedly beaten up by her mother-in-law, who insisted she apologise to all devotees for having committed the ‘crime’. She was hospitalised at Calicut Medical College. After she was discharged, she was again denied entry into her husband’s house.

On 22 January, Kanaka was forced to find shelter in a Ministry of Women and Child Development’s (MWCD) One-Stop Centre (OSC) at Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district. She was given shelter at the centre after she filed a complaint with the district violence protection officer.

The Supreme Court had, in a historic verdict last year, lifted the centuries-old ban and allowed women of all age groups to offer prayers at the temple. Earlier, she said legal action will be taken against her family for domestic violence, adding that she won’t enter her home before she gets the court order.

Expressing gratitude, she said she has enough police protection now. Kanaka’s brother Bharat Bhooshan had also said she won’t be allowed inside his house at Areekode until she apologises to Ayyappa devotees and the Hindu community.

The Supreme Court had ordered full-time security for Kanaka Durga and Bindu after they approached the top court seeking protection.