TN woman says her age in Kerala govt's list submitted to SC incorrect

A Tamil Nadu woman, whose name figured in Kerala government's list of 51 women of menstrual age who visited the Sabarimala shrine, on Sunday said she was 62 and not 48, as mentioned in the affidavit submitted before the Supreme Court.

Chandira Sundaram, a resident of Tiruvannamalai -- about 190 kilometers from here, said her name was wrongly included in the list of women below 50 years of age who visited the hill shrine after the Supreme Court removed the bar on their entry.

She said her year of birth was mentioned as 1970 in her Aadhaar card by mistake, apparently indicating that it may be the reason for inclusion of her name in the list.

In an interview to a Tamil news channel, Sundaram said she has been undertaking the pilgrimage to Sabarimala ever since she turned 54.

"Now I am 62 and for the past eight years I have been visiting the Sabarimala temple," she said.

She added that police helped her climb the sacred 18 steps of the shrine.

The Kerala government submitted the affidavit with the names of 51 women to the apex court on Friday saying they had entered the Sabarimala temple through an online process during the annual pilgrimage season.

The affidavit triggered a controversy with many alleging discrepancies with regard to age of those named in the list.

The son of a woman from Goa claimed that his mother's age was 52 and not 43, as mentioned in the list. A Tamil Nadu man said his name was also included in the list.

The BJP, the Sabarimala Karma Samiti and the Pandalam royal family, associated with the Lord Ayyappa temple, also hit out at the Kerala government.

The shrine's two-month-long pilgrimage season, which witnessed unprecedented protests by frenzied devotees over the entry of young women, concluded on Sunday.