Over 500 menstrual-age women book e-tickets for darshan at Sabarimala: Police
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 10: Over 500 women belonging to the traditionally barred age group have registered for 'darshan' at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, when it opens for the Mandala-Makkaravillakku pilgrim season starting from November 17.
The bookings have been made through police online portal which got underway from October 30, police said.
"We randomly checked up and found that 539 women in the 10-50 age group have booked till yesterday...," a senior IPS officer told PTI here Saturday.
The figure assumes significance as the Sabarimala temple had witnessed frenzied devotees opposing the entry of women belonging to the menstrual-age in the wake of landmark Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all ages to offer prayers at the hill shrine.
The women had registered after logging into www.sabarimalaq.com.
"It is a fact that some names of women have been noticed (in the website). We do not know if they are real or booked by the same person... As of now there is no system to validate," he said.
Since booking on the police site is free, there is no payment gateway. Such payments using credit cards would help in validating the identity of the person making the e-bookings, he added.
The official said that though a request had been made to the government to permit charging of Rs 10 as registration fee while making the bookings, this proposal has not received the government nod so far.
As per the government site, digital Q ticket is invalid without a KSRTC bus ticket to take the pilgrims from Nilackal to Pamba, the base camps. Private vehicles are being allowed only till Nilackal. However, in the case of 539 bookings, KSRTC bus tickets have not been booked, the official said.
"If some people decide to go by foot, we cannot insist that they should travel by bus. Although we advise them to take KSRTC bus pass," he said.
Meanwhile, state-based Ayyappa Dharma Raksha Samithi, a pro-Hindu outfit, has decided to launch a prayer campaign to "protect" the rights of Lord Ayyappa by lighting lamps at five crore houses across seven states during the 41-day annual pilgrim season.
On November 6, around 200 devotees had tried to prevent a woman pilgrim from entering the hill shrine, suspecting her to be of menstrual age, and allegedly attacked a cameraman of a Malayalam news channel.
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Man wanted in rape-murder case of his 4-year-old niece killed in police encounter in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad (UP) (PTI): A 55-year-old criminal wanted in the case of rape and murder of his four-year-old niece was killed in a police encounter late on Sunday night in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district, a police official said on Monday.
In the joint operation carried out by the police and Crime Branch, the accused Jeeshan, carrying a cash reward of Rs 50,000, allegedly opened fire to evade arrest, resulting in injuries to two personnel, the police said.
According to the police, at around 12 noon on April 11, Jeeshan allegedly lured the child from outside her home on the pretext of buying her toffees. He took her to his room, where he allegedly raped her and subsequently strangled her to death. Following the crime, the accused carried the body on his shoulders and dumped it under a car on an 80-foot road in the Shalimar Garden police station area before fleeing.
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Two days ago, his presence was captured on CCTV footage at Delhi railway station when he was trying to flee out of Delhi. The police received a tip-off that the accused was scheduled to meet someone near the Banthla canal in Loni, the police said.
Following this, a team of the Teela Morh police station barricaded the area, and began checking. They spotted the suspect and signalled him to stop. Upon seeing the police, Jeeshan attempted to flee. Finding himself encircled by the police, he allegedly opened fire on the police team. The police fired in self-defence, in which the accused sustained gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead, the police said.
ACP Shalimar Garden Atul Kumar Singh said that the accused was killed in retaliatory firing and the injured policemen -- head constables Amit and Iqbal -- are out of danger.
The body of the deceased has been sent for a post-mortem examination, Singh said, and added that the police have recovered weapons and cartridges from his possession.
