Man held for threatening to commit suicide over shrine verdict

A man was arrested Monday for allegedly threatening to commit suicide in protest against the recent Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of women into the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala.

Police said Sreeraj, an activist of a right wing Hindu outfit, had said in a Facebook post that he would commit suicide upset over the apex court verdict.

In his post two days ago,he had allegedly said he would take the extreme step at the High Court junction here.

With his post going viral, police was deployed at the junction to prevent any such incident, they said.

Sreeraj was arrested when he reached the spot at around 11.30 am with a can of petrol to commit suicide, police said.

He was taken for a medical check up at a government hospital.

A five-judge constitution bench had last week lifted the ban on entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine, saying it amounted to gender discrimination and violated rights of Hindu women.