Woman faces online abuse after announcing plans to visit Sabarimala

Agencies
October 15, 2018

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 15: Amid raging protests over the Sabarimala issue, a Keralite woman, who announced her decision to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa shrine, Monday complained that she was being slut-shamed and subjected to threats and abuses on social media.

Emboldened by the Supreme Court order permitting entry of women of all age groups into the hill temple, Reshma Nishanth, a 32-year-old native of Kannur district, recently put a Facebook post stating that she would visit the shrine.

On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, lifted the ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.

Claiming to be a staunch devotee of Lord Ayyappa, Reshma said she had already started the 41-day 'vrata' (penance) to trek to the forest temple during the annual pilgrimage season beginning on November 17.

She also started wearing the 'bead chain' with the locket of Lord Ayyappa as part of the customary rituals before proceeding to Sabarimala.

"A large number of people have extended support to my decision to visit the shrine. But, slut-shaming and body shaming are also going on against me," she said.

"Soon after I announced my wish and decision to offer prayers at the Ayyappa temple, threats and abusive comments are flooding the social media platforms," she said.

A group of people, suspected to be people who oppose the implementation of the Supreme Court order, Sunday had raised slogans in front of her house and threatened that she would not be allowed to enter Sabarimala at any cost.

However, an unperturbed Reshma Nishanth said the apex court had granted permission for women devotees like her to visit the hill shrine and expressed hope that the state government and police would provide necessary protection to her.

Besides her, some other young women would also accompany her during the pilgrimage, she added.

Reshma said her husband Nishanth, a local bank employee and other family members were all supportive of her decision.

Bindhu, a young homemaker from northern Kozhikode district, Monday said, she along with 30 other women are planning to visit Sabarimala during the three-month-long Mandala-Makaravilakku season.

Kerala has been witnessing intense protests includingprayer marches and mass rallies by Lord Ayyappa devotees and right wing outfits against the implementation of the apex court verdict lifting the age restriction on women to visit the hill shrine.

The Shiv Sena's state unit recently warned of "mass suicides" if women of the "banned" age group visits Sabarimala.

Police have booked actor-turned-BJP supporter, Kollam Thulashi for his controversial remarks that "women in the restricted age group who visit the Lord Ayappa Temple should be ripped apart." 

Senior state minister E P Jayarajan Monday said the CPI(M)led-LDF government would provide necessary security to all believers who wish to trek to the holy hill and offer prayers at the temple.

A Padmakumar, president of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the shrine, told PTI that he was not ready to comment anything on the matter right now.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

Cuttack, Jan 16: At least 15 passengers were injured as five coaches of the Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Lokmanya Tilak Express derailed and three more were displaced after colliding with a goods train amid heavy fog near Cuttack in Odisha on Thursday, railway officials said.

Railway officials had earlier said that 25 passengers were injured in the incident but later officers who reached the site reported that four passengers were found to have suffered major injuries and 11 had received minor injuries.

Passengers with major injuries have been sent to Cuttack Medical College. All passengers are stated to be out of danger.

Officials said the accident happened when the passenger train hit the guard van of a good train around 7 am between Salagaon and Nergundi stations.

The officials said there was heavy fog at the site but it was not clear what led to the accident. The speedometer of both the trains have been seized for inquiry, East Coast Railway Spokesperson J P Mishra said.

Buses have been arranged for all remaining passengers to move towards their destination.

Cuttack is around 10-12 km away and Bhubaneswar(Terminating station) is 35 km.

The accident disrupted train services in the area.

Five trains have been affected due to the accident where restoration work in underway. These include the Bhubaneswar-Mumbai LTT SF Express, the Puri-Rourkela Express, Dhanbad-Bhubaneshwar Rajyarani Express which have all been diverted via Naraj.

"East Coast Railway acknowledges with deep gratitude help of nearby locals and villagers who have displayed great humanitarian values and come to the rescue of injured passengers," Mishra said.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Palghar, Mar 7: Police have arrested a man for allegedly cheating several shopkeepers in Maharashtra's Thane, Pune and Nashik by making phone calls in a woman's voice, police said on Friday.

The accused, Shashikant Ambekar (42), a resident of Palghar, was arrested in the last week of February, they said.

"He used to note down the phone numbers mentioned on different shops and call the owners in a woman's voice to order some things from them. He would tell them that he had a Rs 2000 currency note and needed change," an official said.

"He would ask the shopkeepers to send smaller denomination notes for exchange. He would wait at the entrance of buildings and when the delivery man arrived, he used to tell that he was there on behalf of the ''caller woman''.

"He would then take the currency notes from the delivery man saying he would get the Rs 2,000 note from the woman. However, he would disappear from the scene," the official said.

Police have seized Rs 1,85,000 from the accused and found that so far he has committed 22 similar crimes in different parts of the state.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Surat, Jul 16: Woman police constable Sunita Yadav, who had a confrontation with a minister's son over lockdown violation which led to his arrest here in Gujarat, claimed she has resigned from service. However, a senior police official has denied it.

Prakash Kanani, the son of Gujarat Minister of State for Health Kumar Kanani, and his two friends were arrested on Sunday for allegedly violating the lockdown and night curfew orders in Surat, a COVID-19 hotspot, a senior police official earlier said.

Yadav, who is being hailed on social media for taking action against the minister's son, told news channels on Wednesday that she had put in her papers.

"I have resigned because I did not receive support from my superior officers. I was only doing my duty as a constable. It's the fault of our system that these people (like the minister's son) think they are VVIPs (very very important persons)," she said.

However, a senior police official here denied that she has resigned.

"She has not given her resignation. The inquiry is still on and technically she cannot resign at this juncture," Surat Police Commissioner R B Brahmbhatt said.

Yadav's action had led to the registration of an FIR and arrest of Prakash Kanani and two of his friends for alleged violation of lockdown and curfew norms in Surat city.

The arrests came after a video of a heated exchange between them and Yadav, who pulled up the trio for violation of curfew, surfaced on social media. The trio was later released on bail.

Since the incident, Yadav is being hailed on social media.

While some social media users called her "Lady Singham" (referring to the tough cop in the Hindi film "Singham"), some suggested she contest the 2022 state Assembly polls against Kumar Kanani, who represents Varachha constituency in Surat district.

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