2 women stopped on way to Sabarimala temple

Two women devotees, who were on their way to Sabarimala temple were stopped by protesters at Appachimedu, just two kilometers away from the Lord Ayyappa's shrine in the wee hours of Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, a group of eleven women devotees who had arrived in Pamba to visit the Lord Ayyappa temple had to return without paying obeisance at the hill shrine after several people, including women, staged a protest opposing their entry.

The Sabarimala temple and surrounding areas witnessed a string of protests after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on entry of women of menstrual age (10-50 years) inside the temple in September this year.

However, till now, no woman of the previously-forbidden age group has been able to enter the temple due to widespread protests.