Chennai: Kanaka Durga (42), the Kerala government’s Civil Supplies employee, who made history by becoming one of the two menstruating age women entering the Sabarimala temple for the first time, has been forced to find shelter in a Ministry of Women and Child Development’s (MWCD) One-Stop Centre (OSC) at Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district.
She has been given shelter at the centre after she filed a complaint with the district violence protection officer. The Angadipuram-based woman being denied entry into her husband’s house in Malappuram.
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.
The two were the first women of the menstrual age group to offer prayers at the Lord 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 denied entry into her husband’s house.
The 42-year-old said legal action will be taken against her family for domestic violence, adding that she wont 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.