Man held for 'assaulting' woman pilgrim at Sabarimala
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 7: A 29-year old man was Wednesday arrested in connection with the incident relating to the alleged assault of a woman pilgrim at the Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, suspecting her to be of menstrual age.
Sooraj, hailing from Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta district, was one of the main accused in the incident which took place Tuesday when the hill shrine was opened for the two-day-long "Chithira Atta Thirunal," a special ritual.
Hundreds of frenzied devotees had tried to attack and prevent the 52-year old woman, Lalitha Ravi,from offering prayers at the temple.
The man was arrested under non-bailable charges--IPC 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), police said.
Investigation is on to nab the remaining accused, Pathanamthitta SP, T Narayanan, told PTI.
The man was arrested on the basis of digital evidence and photographs, he said.
Police had registered cases against 200 "identifiable" persons for trying to prevent Lalitha, who had come for the 'choroonu' (rice-giving) ceremony of her grandchild, from praying at the temple.
Clapping and chanting 'Ayyappa Saranam', a huge crowd of devotees surrounded Lalitha suspecting her to be of menstrual age, but police intervened and escorted her out.
The woman showed her Aadhaar card to them to prove that she did not belong to the "traditionally barred" age group of 10-50 years.
Police later escorted her to the shrine to offer prayers along with other women relatives.
It was the second time in the last three weeks that the doors of the hill temple opened after the Supreme Court had allowed entry of women of all age groups into Sabarimala.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
