Two women return from Nilakkal base camp

Sabarimala Temple

Two women, under the age of 50 years, who reached Nilakkal base camp on Saturday to trek to Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, had to return back after police warned them about protesters in Pamba. These were the same women - Reshma Nishant and Shanila Sajesh - who had attempted to climb the hill to offer prayers earlier this week.

Reshma and Shanila had earlier announced their intentions to enter the temple after the landmark Supreme Court verdict. On Wednesday, they began the trek around 4 am from the base camp of Pamba with police protection. But when a group of male pilgrims, returning from the temple, identified them, protests rang out.

Within no time, hundreds of pilgrims gathered at Neelimala en route the temple, vowing that they would not be allowed to go up any further. In the face of strong protests, the police had to retreat, along with the two women.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the Kerala government to provide "round the clock" security to two women, Kanakadurga and Bindu, who had entered the Sabarimala temple after the court lifted the age restriction on entry of women to the hill shrine.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever