Police provided security to women who entered Sabarimala temple : Pinarayi Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 2: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the two women who entered the Sabarimala temple early Wednesday were given police protection during their trek to the shrine.
The two women in their 40s entered the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala and offered prayers.
"Earlier, women were not able to enter the temple due to certain hurdles. They may have entered the shrine today because they would not have faced any issues. It is a fact that the women have entered Sabarimala. Police have given them security," Vijayan told media here.
Despite the Supreme Court's verdict on September 28 last year, permitting women in the 10-50 age group, no children or young women in the 'barred' group were able to offer prayers at the shrine following frenzied protests by devotees and right wing outfits.
The two women, identified as Kanakadurga (44) and Bindu (42), wearing the traditional black dress, with their heads covered, climbed the hill shrine at 3.38 am Wednesday.
The women trekked to the hill a day after the state-sponsored 620-km-long human wall of women was formed Tuesday from Kasargod in the northern part of the state till the southernmost district of Thiruvananthapuram.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two tribal girls gangraped in Chhattisgarh's Surguja; three arrested, three juveniles detained
Ambikapur (PTI): Two tribal girls were raped allegedly by six persons, including three juveniles, in a village in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, a police official said on Thursday.
Three accused have been arrested and three minors were detained in connection with the incident that took place on the night of April 24 under Sitapur police station limits, he informed.
"The motorcycle-borne accused intercepted the victims when they, along with two other friends, were returning home on foot after attending a wedding. Two of the girls managed to escape. The two victims, one aged 15 years and another 13 years, were forced onto a motorcycle, taken to a secluded place and sexually assaulted," he said.
One of the victims returned home the same night and informed her family the next day, following which a case was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act at Sitapur police station on April 26 for gangrape and other offences, he said.
Medical examinations of the victims were conducted at the Sitapur Community Health Centre on April 26 and 27, the official said.
"Initial medical reports did not confirm sexual assault. However, after the victims' families expressed dissatisfaction with the findings, the girls were sent for fresh medical examination at the district hospital in Ambikapur. Based on this medical report, all six accused were taken into custody by April 30," he said.
The arrested accused have been identified as Anand Bek (27), Vikas Tigga (24) and Manish Khalkho (18), all residents of the Sitapur area. The three juveniles, two of them aged 17 years, have been detained, he said.
