12-year-old barred from proceeding to Lord Ayyappa temple
Sabarimala: A 12-year-old girl from Puducherry, who had come for darshan to Lord Ayyappa temple here along with her father, was not allowed to proceed to the shrine from Pamba on Tuesday morning. The age of the girl, with "irrumudikettu" (offerings to Lord Ayyappa) had been shown as 10 in the virtual Q booking.
Women police examined the girl's aadhar card and found that she was 12 years old and refused to allow her to proceed further from Pamba to the shrine complex, police said.
After those accompanying the child were informed about the current situation in Sabarimala, her father and other relatives proceeded to the temple.
Supporting the shrine's tradition, a nine-year-old Keralite girl, who came to the temple complex from Karnataka on Monday, had a placard around her neck inscribed with the words "Ready to wait. Will visit the shrine after attaining 50 years."
Hailing from Thrissur, Hridyakrishnan said she had visited the shrine thrice and would have darshan of Lord Ayyappa only after she reaches 50.
Her father, Harikrishnan had said devotees are those who protect traditions and beliefs.
While two women in the barred age group of 10-50 years had been stopped by police on Monday from visiting the hill shrine, on Saturday, when the temple opened, at least 10 young women from Andhra Pradesh had been sent back.
The Pamba base camp is at the foothills of Sabarimala, about 5 km from the shrine. The Lord Ayyappa temple had opened on November 16 evening for the two month long Mandala-Makaravillakku pilgrimage season.
The state and temple precincts had witnessed protests by right wing outfits and BJP workers last year after the LDF government decided to implement the Supreme court's verdict of September 28, 2018 allowing women of all age groups to offer prayers at the shrine.
However, this year, even though the top court had not stayed its verdict on entry of young women into the shrine while posting various petitions on the matter to a larger bench, the government was exercising caution.
Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran has made it clear that Sabarimala was not a place for activists to display their activism and said the government would not encourage such women who want to visit the shrine for publicity.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
