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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Samson's unbeaten 87 powers CSK to eight-wicket win over DC
New Delhi (PTI): Sanju Samson bossed the chase with authority, anchoring a modest 156-run target with a fluent 87 not out as Chennai Super Kings outclassed Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in the IPL here on Tuesday.
Samson's knock came off just 52 balls with seven fours and six sixes, batting through the innings as CSK completed the chase in just 17.3 overs giving a huge boost to their net run-rate.
Electing to bat on a tricky surface, Delhi Capitals were restricted to 155/7.
West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein set the tone with the new ball, returning tidy figures of 1/19, including 14 dot balls.
Reduced to 69/5 in 11 overs, Delhi found some late impetus through Tristan Stubbs (38; 31 balls) and Sameer Rizvi (40 not out; 24 balls), who stitched together a crucial 65-run (off 47 balls) stand to give the innings a respectable total.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals: 155 for 7 in 20 overs (Tristan Stubbs 38, Sameer Rizvi 40 not out; Noor Ahmed 2/22)
Chennai Super Kings 159 for two in 17.3 overs (Sanju Samson 87 not out, Kartik Sharma 41 not out). CSK win by eight wickets.
