Kerala Police on Tuesday stopped a 12-year-old girl from entering the Sabarimala temple despite a Supreme Court order to allow women of all age to enter the revered Lord Ayyappa temple.
Recently the Supreme Court referred a bunch of review petitions against its 2018 verdict and said a larger 7-judge bench will hear the matter of allowing women of menstruating age to enter the Sabarimala temple.
On Saturday, the first day of opening of the Sabarimala temple this season, 10 women were stopped by the police from entering the temple. On Monday, two more women were stopped.
Now on Tuesday, Kerala Police has once again stopped a 12-year-old who had come with her family from Puducherry to visit the temple.
The girl came with her father and other relatives when they were stopped at the gates around 10 am on Tuesday. They were asked to show age proofs.
Upon verifying the Aadhaar cards of the family members, police said the girl could not be allowed beyond the Pamba guard room.
While the family insisted that the girl must be allowed, police refused to let her go. She was taken to another room where she was asked to wait while the family continued with their trek uphill to the Sabarimala temple.