Sabarimala row: Devotees try to stop woman, attack scribe

Devotees stage a protest at the shrine on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

In a tense showdown at Sabarimala, about 200 devotees on Tuesday tried to prevent a woman from entering the hilltop shrine suspecting her to be of the menstrual age and allegedly attacked a cameraman of a Malayalam television news channel.

Ignoring prohibitory orders, devotees and right wing activists gathered in huge numbers at the Sannidhanam, the shrine complex, following which a senior state RSS leader addressed them using a microphone to bring the situation under control.

Clapping and chanting 'Ayyappa saranam', a huge crowd of devotees surrounded Lalitha Ravi, 52, suspecting her to be of menstrual age, but police intervened and escorted her out. The woman showed her Aadhaar card to them to prove she did not belong to the 'barred' age group.

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