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An inquiry report has exonerated the two woman police constables who had the other day entered areas defined as off-limits to women as per the customs at the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala even as Tanthri (traditional chief priest) Kantararu Maheswararu of the shrine withdrew his demand to make his grandson one of his Parikarmis (assistant priest).
Special Officer Valsan at Pampa, the base camp for the Sabarimala pilgrim centre, submitted his inquiry report to Additional DGP Chandra Sekharan reportedly stating that the woman cops had not broken any rules but had only done their duty. The two woman constables had entered the Neelimala area on way to the shrine in the entourage of Agriculture Minister KP Mohanan.
The women police constables had walked up to Neelimala hills early Monday morning while they were accompanying the two sisters of Minister Mohanan who formed part of a 35-member group of pilgrims. Women below 50 years of age are not allowed at Sabarimala temple and its surroundings.
However, Special Officer Valsan said in his report to the ADGP that the two woman cops, drawn for duty at Pampa from Thiruvananthapuram, had entered the Neelimala area as per the instructions they were given by their superior, Circle Inspector Muhammad Riyas at Pampa. The report also said that the Minister had not demanded the escort of woman cops.
The Special Officer had recorded the statements of Riyas and the two constables. Devotees and sources at the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), in-charge of the administration of the Lord Ayyappa and other shrines in southern Kerala, expressed surprise at the report.
The two woman cops, posted at Pampa to ensure that women under 50 did not enter the 4.8-km path to the shrine, had left the Minister’s entourage and returned to their base after reaching halfway to the temple. Minister Mohanan had confirmed this and scenes of the presence of the two woman cops at Neelimala were recorded by CCTV cameras.
Meanwhile, Tanthri Maheswararu of the shrine withdrew the request he had made to the Kerala High Court to appoint his grandson Rahul Easwar, a television personality, as one of his Parikarmis. The Tanthri had made the request to the court after the TDB prevented Rahul from entering the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on December 13.
The High Court had considered the letter the Tanthri had written after this incident as a petition. He withdrew the request on Tuesday as the court was to take up the petition on Wednesday. In the letter, the Tanthri claimed that he did not want controversies at Sabarimala just when 12 more days were left for the Makaravilakku festival, the ultimate event of the annual pilgrimage.
Maheswararu told the court that he was being accused of violating temple customs after 50 years of service to the Lord. He also said that Rahul, son of his daughter Mallika Antharjanam, had entered the sanctum sanctorum several times, a claim Rahul himself had made earlier.
TDB officials had stopped Rahul from entering the sanctum sanctorum saying that it was up to them to decide who should be given entry there. They also said that Rahul could not be given this right because he was not son of Maheswararu’s son.
Special Officer Valsan at Pampa, the base camp for the Sabarimala pilgrim centre, submitted his inquiry report to Additional DGP Chandra Sekharan reportedly stating that the woman cops had not broken any rules but had only done their duty. The two woman constables had entered the Neelimala area on way to the shrine in the entourage of Agriculture Minister KP Mohanan.
The women police constables had walked up to Neelimala hills early Monday morning while they were accompanying the two sisters of Minister Mohanan who formed part of a 35-member group of pilgrims. Women below 50 years of age are not allowed at Sabarimala temple and its surroundings.
However, Special Officer Valsan said in his report to the ADGP that the two woman cops, drawn for duty at Pampa from Thiruvananthapuram, had entered the Neelimala area as per the instructions they were given by their superior, Circle Inspector Muhammad Riyas at Pampa. The report also said that the Minister had not demanded the escort of woman cops.
The Special Officer had recorded the statements of Riyas and the two constables. Devotees and sources at the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), in-charge of the administration of the Lord Ayyappa and other shrines in southern Kerala, expressed surprise at the report.
The two woman cops, posted at Pampa to ensure that women under 50 did not enter the 4.8-km path to the shrine, had left the Minister’s entourage and returned to their base after reaching halfway to the temple. Minister Mohanan had confirmed this and scenes of the presence of the two woman cops at Neelimala were recorded by CCTV cameras.
Meanwhile, Tanthri Maheswararu of the shrine withdrew the request he had made to the Kerala High Court to appoint his grandson Rahul Easwar, a television personality, as one of his Parikarmis. The Tanthri had made the request to the court after the TDB prevented Rahul from entering the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on December 13.
The High Court had considered the letter the Tanthri had written after this incident as a petition. He withdrew the request on Tuesday as the court was to take up the petition on Wednesday. In the letter, the Tanthri claimed that he did not want controversies at Sabarimala just when 12 more days were left for the Makaravilakku festival, the ultimate event of the annual pilgrimage.
Maheswararu told the court that he was being accused of violating temple customs after 50 years of service to the Lord. He also said that Rahul, son of his daughter Mallika Antharjanam, had entered the sanctum sanctorum several times, a claim Rahul himself had made earlier.
TDB officials had stopped Rahul from entering the sanctum sanctorum saying that it was up to them to decide who should be given entry there. They also said that Rahul could not be given this right because he was not son of Maheswararu’s son.
