Kerala police allegedly stops transgenders from entering the Sabarimala temple

The Kerala Police on Sunday allegedly stopped a group of four transgenders heading towards the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala. 

Ananya, who was accompanied by three more persons, claimed that the police officers on duty allegedly threatened and discouraged them to proceed further. However, the police denied the allegations saying that the team had voluntarily returned after being told about the situation.

Later, the team reached the office of Kottayam Superintendent of Police to meet top police officials. They are also trying to approach the observation committee of the hill temple.

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday, December 12 directed police to remove barricades at prime spots in the temple complex of the Lord Ayyappa hill shrine at Sabarimala. It also directed police to lift restrictions like blocking pilgrims at Sharankutti, en route to the 'sannidhanam' or temple complex, after 11.30 PM.

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A division bench of justices Ramachandra Menon and N Anil Kumar said its earlier order that there should not be any protest in Sabarimala stands intact. The bench also approved the report of the three-member monitoring commission appointed by it on November 28 to oversee the pilgrimage at Sabarimala temple.

The court had appointed the three-member panel to oversee the pilgrimage at Sabarimala temple and said there should not be any more protests at the shrine, which witnessed a series of violent incidents after the September 28 Supreme Court verdict, allowing women of all ages into the shrine.

It had while hearing a bunch of petitions questioning restrictions at the temple, said the three observers would monitor the pilgrimage and report to the court.

The court on Wednesday said that depending on the intensity of the crowd, police can take appropriate measures to manage the crowd and inflow without causing inconvenience to pilgrims.

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Parties like Congress, BJP in Kerala have taken the stage to protest against the order of Supreme court on allowing women of menstruating age into Sabarimala temple and have conducted many public rallies and protests against the government's stand on the implementation of the order. They've been insisting that the State government should file a review petition itself against the order, but, however, the State government is clear on its stand on allowing women into the Sabarimala temple.

(inputs from PTI)