House of activist Rehana Fathima attacked
Kochi, Oct 20: Activist Rehana Fathima's house was allegedly vandalised by unidentified persons while she was attempting to reach the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala on Friday, police said.
She had made a failed attempt to reach the temple with heavy police protection.
Police said Saturday that the attackers reached Fatima's house in Panampilly Nagar here while she was climbing the hills.
Fathima, a model and activist who was part of "Kiss of Love" movement in Kochi in 2014 against alleged moral policing, was among the two women who had reached the hilltop but had to return before reaching the sanctum sanctorum following massive protests by Ayyappa devotees.
Fathima and Hyderabad-based journalist Kavitha were taken to the hills with heavy police protection.
A mother of two and employee of the BSNL, Fathima had kicked up a row last year by posing for topless photos with watermelons in protest against a Kozhikode-based college professor's statement comparing women's breasts to watermelons.
The houses of a 46-year-old woman from Kazhakootam in Thiruvananthapuram district, who had also made an attempt to trek the forest path from downhill Pamba to the temple complex five km away, were also allegedly attacked by unidentified people.
The woman's houses at Thumba and Murukkumpuzha were reportedly attacked soon after she made the attempt to climb the holy hills.
She, however, gave up the attempt following protests from devotees.
On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by then chief justice Dipak Misra, lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine but a section of devotees is protesting the decision.
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Mustafa Bengre elected District President of SIO Dakshina Kannada for 2026 term
Mangaluru: Mustafa Bengre has been unanimously elected as the District President of the Students Islamic Organisation of India, Dakshina Kannada Unit (SIO DK), for the 2026 term. The election was conducted through an internal organisational process, led by SIO Karnataka State Secretary Sufyan Zain.
Mustafa Bengre holds a BBA degree from Mangalore University and is a resident of Kasba Bengre in Mangaluru. He is currently working as a sales executive at Vibro Aqua.
He has previously served as the District Secretary of SIO Dakshina Kannada, City Secretary of SIO Mangaluru and has been actively involved in several social service initiatives in Bengre and across the Dakshina Kannada district.
