Sabarimala Temple (File image) | Photo Credit: PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: Protesters continued to defy the Supreme Court’s order to allow women of all ages to visit the holy Sabarimala Temple in Kerala for the fifth day in a row. A 46-year-old woman suffered a panic attack and fell unconscious after scores of protesters surrounded her and heckled her as she tried to reach the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa on Sunday.

The woman, identified as Balamma from Andhra Pradesh, was with her family and on her way to Sabarimala when the protesters stopped her in Sannidhanam. She had already trekked around four kilometres without any police protection before the protesters noticed her.

However, once they did, they surrounded her and asked her to show her ID card to check her age. As per NDTV, police did not intervene to stop the agitators. In the commotion, Balamma suffered a panic attack and had to be rushed to Pamba in an ambulance, sources said.

Earlier today, two women from Andhra Pradesh, who were both in their early forties, were stopped 200 metres from Pamba and were forced to return, owing to the opposition by the groups of protesters who have been camping on the way to Sabarimala shrine.

The two women have been identified as 41-year-old Vasanthi and 42-year-old Aadhiseshi. The duo started trekking towards the hill shrine when they were stopped by the protestors. They later stated that they did not know about the situation in Sabarimala and thus planned to go back home.

The doors of the revered shrine for Lord Ayyappa were opened on October 17 for the first time after the historic ruling by the Supreme Court that allowed women from ages 10 to 50 enter the temple. However, protesters have ensured that no women of reproductive age, who have traditionally been barred from entering the temple, is able to set foot in the temple premises.

Till now eight women have attempted to reach the holy shrine but none have been successful so far. Most have been unable to go beyond Nilakkal and Pamba, which are the two main stops on the way to the shrine. However, Kavitha, a journalist, and Rahana Fatima, activist, were able turned away from the shrine’s main entrance, which is a few hundred meters away from the sanctum sanctorum.

The police have reportedly said that they would help provide protection to the women devotees and help them complete the trek but could not extend any aid beyond that. "Darshan is something which can be done with consent of the priest," Kerala Inspector General S Sreejith had reportedly said.

The temple, which opens for only five days a month, will shut tomorrow.

