Reportedly on saturday afternoon, panic ensued in kerala after reports said that 10 women in the age group of 10 to 50 had reached Pamba and was on the way to Sabarimala. Meanwhile reports said they were part of a larger group of men and women who'd come from vijayawada in andhra pradesh as part of a pilgrimage and however, from Pamba, only the women above 50 years of age headed towards the temple, accompanying the men.
Furthermore some media reports say that the 10 women were stopped by the police and counseled about the age restrictions and traditions of the temple. The police, however, denied this when TNM called the Pamba station. The Pamba CI said “It is not true that the police counseled them or sent them away. Everyone is aware of the supreme court verdict and the entry restrictions of women at Sabrimala temple and as soon as they realized they had reached the point of no entry, they went away on their own”.
Earlier the government had supported the entry of the women, after the previous supreme court verdict allowed it in september 2018. Moreover the whole state had erupted, with sections of the public and politicians opposing the entry of women in the previously restricted age group, citing tradition. Apparently the government had then said it had to implement the SC's verdict and given police protection to the women who came for darshan.
