SC verdict on prohibiting women in Sabarimala temple on Friday
New Delhi, Sep 27 : The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Friday its verdict on the plea challenging the practice of prohibiting women in 10 to 50 age group from entering the Sabarimla temple having the deity of Lord Ayyappa in a "naishtika brahmacharya" (perennial celibate).
The hearing on the challenge to the practice by the five-judge constitution bench had seen Kerala government asserting that the Sabarimala temple does not belong to a religious denomination and it could not invoke the protection of Article 26 of the Constitution to save the practice of prohibiting women in the age group of 10 to 50 years from entering the temple.
The matter, which witnessed shifting stands of the Kerala government with the change of governments, saw the Left Front government telling the court that Lord Jagannath's temple, Kash Vishwnath temple and similar religious places are not denominational temples but the Ramakrishna Mission was a denominational entity.
On the conclusion of the hearing, the constitution bench had made it clear that it would decide the issue based on constitutional provisions and not by the statues enacted by the state -- Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institution Act, 1950 and Kerala Hindu Places of Worship (Authorization of Entry) Act, 1965.
Besides Chief Justice Dipak Misra who headed the constitution bench, other judges on the bench were Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra.
Parties supporting the practice of barring the women in 10-50 years age group from entering the temple had told the court: "It is a unique Ayyappa temple following a religious practice as protected by Article 25(1) on the strength of the religious practice based on the religious belief from time immemorial."
Referring to the antiquity of practice, the court was told that the temple could invoke Article 25(1) to protect the practice, and since its management was entrusted to a board by a statute, it was duty-bound to protect a practice based on religious belief.
The hearing had also seen the defenders of practice asserting that the deity of Lord Ayyappa in a "naishtika brahmacharya" too had the rights which should be respected.
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Man kills woman lecturer, sets car ablaze; dies by suicide in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): A 46-year-old man allegedly killed a woman lecturer by setting fire to the car with her inside, before dying by suicide; his severed body was found by railway police the next day, police said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Ramanjinappa, a resident of Doddaballapura, was a contract worker in the tahsildar’s office, they said.
Police said the man, who was married and had apparently separated from his wife, was in an illicit relationship with a woman identified as Saroja, whose charred body was found inside a gutted car in an isolated area near the Bashetty Industrial Area in Doddaballapura taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Saroja was also married and had a son, police said.
According to police, on Saturday, the man allegedly borrowed a car from an acquaintance, claiming he had a medical emergency and needed to visit a hospital.
Citing preliminary investigations, a senior police officer said the man picked up the lecturer from a bus stop in Devanahalli. The two spent a couple of hours driving around Nandi Hills and nearby areas.
Later, they reached a secluded spot in Doddaballapura, where it is suspected that an argument ensued inside the car, following which he allegedly hit her on the head with a hammer, the officer said.
He then set the car on fire, reportedly using petrol, and is believed to have died by suicide thereafter, police said.
Locals who saw the burning car alerted the police and fire department, who rushed to the spot, extinguished the fire, and found the woman’s body completely charred inside the vehicle, the officer added.
His severed body was found near railway tracks in Bidadi by the railway police on Sunday, he said.
The motive and whether the crime was premeditated or impulsive are under investigation, he said.
Saroja’s husband filed a complaint accusing Ramanjinappa of killing her, police said, adding that a detailed investigation is underway to establish the exact sequence of events.
