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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News Network
January 20,2020

Ahmedabad, Jan 20: Cops in Gandhinagar fell in a catch-22 situation when a state government employee approached them with a complaint that the 26-year-old woman class teacher of his 14-year-old son had gone missing taking his son in tow. The man, who works at Udyog Bhavan in Gandhinagar said the woman had seduced his teenage son, who studies in class VIII and taken him away with her. The boy had gone missing from 4pm on Friday, and the classteacher was also missing.

A police official said the woman teacher had been too intimate with the allegedly missing boy for around a year, and the school authorities had recently rebuked them. “As their relationship was unaccepted, they left their homes on Friday,” he said. It was rare to find a case of a woman teacher eloping with her teenage student, the official added.

An FIR for elopement under Section 363 IPC has been registered with Kalol city police in Gandhinagar district. The complaint stated the teacher is a resident of Darbari chawl in Kalol town.

“When I reached home at around 7pm, I found my son missing. My wife told me he had left home at around 4pm. We searched for him in the neighbourhood and among relatives, but couldn’t trace him,” claims the teenage boy’s father in the FIR. “I went to the teacher’s house but they were not there,” the man stated.

Inspector K K Desai of Kalol city police said the missing duo could not be traced as they were not carrying cellphones.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Tamil Nadu, Jul 12: An alleged attempt by a 19-year-old man to "open a branch of the State Bank of India" at Panruti near Tamil Nadu was scuttled and he was arrested for forgery, police said on Saturday.

The man, son of retired SBI employees, had readied fake seals and challans of the public sector lender, and had other paraphernalia like a cash counting machine needed "to run a bank branch," on an upper floor of his residence at Panruti, about 25 km from Tamil Nadu.

He had not, however, put up any signboard. The SBI Panruti branch manager lodged a complaint with police seeking action following a tip-off by a customer that the man was "opening an SBI branch and has challans as well."

A printer who printed the challans and another who had made fake seals were held for similar offences and abetment.

They were produced before a magistrate court and enlarged on bail.

Asked if the man had cheated people by soliciting deposits or facilitating loans, Panruti police inspector K Ambethkar said, "no..we have not received any such complaint so far."

The man's late father had worked for SBI and his mother had retired from the same bank some time back, he said.

To a question, the police inspector said the man's mother, who has mobility issues, and another woman a relative living in the same house had no clue about his "idea."

Investigations revealed that he aspired to work for a bank and since he had closely watched banking operations for long he was "very knowledgeable" about it.

On the suspected motive, he said several of his replies were incomprehensible, childish, and strange notwithstanding his excellent understanding of the banking processes.

"He even calmly told us that he awaited approval from Mumbai to open the (SBI) branch and that he was about to put up a signboard," the inspector said, adding that the man had tried unsuccessfully to get employment on compassionate grounds in the SBI following the death of his father in harness.

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Agencies
April 11,2020

Hyderabad, Apr 11: With the Telangana government banning spitting in public places in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic, a police case has been registered here against a man for violating the rule.

During vehicle-checking on Friday, police found the man spitting on the road here and registered a case against him for disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant, police said.

Spitting in public places and institutions has been banned in the state in view of the pandemic with the government saying such acts pose a serious threat of leading to spread of infections.

"In the interest of public health and safety, the spitting of paan/any chewable tobacco or non-tobacco product, sputum in public places & institutions is hereby BANNED with immediate effect," a gvernment notification said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the importance of hygiene and cleanliness in both personal as well as public spheres, the April 6 notification issued by the Health, Medical and Family Welfare department said.

"It is of utmost need to impose restrictions on unhealthy practices that may potentially lead to spread of such viruses and other infections," it said.

The habit of public spitting poses a serious threat of leading to spread of such infections, the notification added.

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