09:51 Two women escorted by 100 cops minutes away from entering Sabarimala : Journalist Kavitha Jakkal of the Hyderabad-based Mojo TV and woman activist and devoteee Rehana Fatima are en route to the Sabarimala temple, escorted by a posse of 100 cops. The women are now very near the temple.
Their attempt to reach the shrine came a day after a New Delhi-based woman reporter of a foreign media outlet made a failed bid to visit the temple.
Police led by IG S Sreejith have have thrown a security ring around the women who had requested security to go to Sabarimala Sannidhanam. “Police will not create any issue in Sabarimala and we don’t want a confrontation with devotees. We are only following the law. I will be discussing with the higher authorities and brief them on the situation,” Inspector General S Sreejith told devotees.
Dewasom minister K Surendran weighed in on the issue saying, “Don’t make temple a platform for activism. Genuine devotees will be escorted to the temple.”
There have been strong protests by devotees opposing the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the Lord Ayyappa temple. The woman reporter is in her late 20s while the details of the second woman, who was carrying Irumudikkettu (holy bundle), was not immediately known.
If they climbed the hills, they would be the first women from the menstruating age group to visit the Sabarimala temple of Lord Ayyappa after the Supreme Court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the shrine.
On Thursday, the New Delhi-based woman journalist was stopped midway by devotees opposing the entry of women of menstrual age into the hill shrine.
The journalist accompanied by her male colleague, a foreigner, descended the hills from Marakkoottam area in the face of mounting protests. A case has been registered against devotees who allegedly prevented her trekking and forced her to climb down the hills.
Image: Journalist Kavitha Jakkal of Hyderabad-based Mojo TV, being escorted by police from Pamba to Sannidhanam.
09:17 She showed me the middle finger: BSP leader’s son in his defence:
Ashish Pandey, the son of a former Bahujan Samaj Party MP who has been accused of brandishing a pistol and threatening the guests at a five-star hotel in New Delhi, told the police on Thursday that he was instigated by a woman, who had shown him the ‘middle finger’, after which he had got the weapon from his car.
Pandey, who surrendered before the Patiala House court on Thursday, also said in a video message that he was being subjected to a media trial and that only one side of the story was being shown, portraying him as a ‘terrorist’.
“The woman accompanying Gaurav (Kanwar, son of a former Congress MLA) showed me the middle finger, which instigated me to get my pistol from my car,” Pandey told the police after his arrest in the case.
“Pandey claimed that Kanwar was in the ladies’ washroom in the hotel when his female friends went to the washroom.
“They raised an objection over Kanwar’s presence in the washroom which led to an argument, following which Pandey was called by his friends,” a senior officer privy to the probe said.
Pandey claimed that he asked Kanwar to come out of the washroom but the latter refused to do so and instead, challenged him, saying, “What is your business if I am inside the washroom?” the police said.
Subsequently, Kanwar’s female friend showed the middle finger to Pandey and his women friends at the porch of the hotel and that instigated him to get the pistol from the car, the accused told the police.
Pandey was on his way home in Lucknow on Sunday night when he got to know about the video of the incident being circulated on the social media.
He then messaged all his friends, requesting them to ensure that the video was not circulated and asking them to delete it from their phones.
The next day, when he realised that the video had gone viral, he took his son and wife along with him and went hiding at various places in and around Lucknow, Pandey told the police.
His father, uncle and brother were in touch with lawyers and his friends, while he was juggling between places, he told the interrogators.
The police are yet to recover the weapon Pandey had brandished at the foyer of the south Delhi hotel in the early hours of Sunday.
“I have been subjected to a media trial. I am being portrayed as a terrorist. I am not denying that the incident happened but it is being shown from one side,” Pandey said in a video message he released before his surrender.
In the video, he said the CCTV footage of the hotel should properly be checked to ascertain who was at fault.
“They should check the CCTV footage and see who entered the ladies’ washroom and after exiting from it, who threatened whom. When I came out, I took the licensed gun from my vehicle. I did not aim the gun towards him (Kanwar) and the weapon was pointed downwards.
“Everyone is saying I threatened a woman with a gun but I did not even address the woman, who was with him. She pushed me and even made obscene gestures at me using her hands. Her male friend said things to me,” Pandey said.
He added that he would tell his side of the story to the police and that he had full faith in the country’s judicial system.
After the video of the incident went viral on the social media, resulting in a public outrage, Pandey had requested his friends on WhatsApp not to circulate the video and apologised for what he did.
The video of the incident at the Hyatt Regency hotel in New Delhi prompted the police to step in and launch a hunt for Pandey. A Delhi court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Pandey on Wednesday.
Pandey’s father Rakesh Pandey is a former BSP MP and his brother Ritesh is an MLA in Uttar Pradesh. — PTI
08:24 Woman scribe begins climbing Sabarimala hill under heavy security:
A woman reporter from Hyderabad began trekking to Sabarimala hill on Friday, a day after a New Delhi-based reporter of a foreign media outlet made a failed bid to visit the shrine.
Police have thrown a security ring around the woman who had requested security to go to Sabarimala Sannidhanam to carry out her professional duty.
The woman is in her late 20s and if she climbed the hills, she would be the first woman from the menstruating age group to visit the Sabarimala temple of Lord Ayyappa after the Supreme Court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the shrine.
Protests against the entry of women of all age groups in Sabarimala Temple continued on Friday with protesters saying, “No woman between 10-50 years of age will enter here. We are protecting Sabarimala.”
On Thursday, the New Delhi-based woman journalist was stopped midway by devotees opposing the entry of women of menstrual age into the hill shrine.
The journalist accompanied by her male colleague, a foreigner, descended the hills from Marakkoottam area in the face of mounting protests.
A case has been registered against devotees who allegedly prevented her trekking and forced her to climb down the hills. — PTI
Source: Rediff