Shani Shingnapur row: Trupti Desai detained in Ahmednagar

Bhumata brigade activist Trupti Desai was detained by the police here on Monday while she was leading a group of women to the Shani Shingnapur Temple.

Desai is leading a movement to break the gender barrier at the Shani Shingnapur Temple in Maharashtra, where women are not allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine. They are being vehemently opposed by the temple authorities and the locals as they say that the practice to not allow women is a centuries old tradition.

In a bid to end the deadlock over allowing women to enter Shani Shingnapur temple, the Ahmednagar District Administration had called for a meeting between protestors and the temple management earlier this month to discuss ban on female devotees entering the shrine's sanctum sanctorum.

Last month, Desai and other activists of Bhumata brigade were stopped from marching towards the temple by police near Supa. They were also detained by police for some time, but released later.

The temple drew attention in November 2015 after a woman had offered prayers at the popular shrine in "breach" of age-old practice, after which the temple committee suspended seven security men and performed purification rituals.

The temple attracts millions of tourists and devotees from across the country and abroad.