THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Police are learnt to have given clearance to four

, who were proceeding to

and were stopped and sent back from Erumeli on Sunday, for darshan at the hill shrine. The Sabarimala

and

authorities have also made it clear that customs won’t prevent members of

community from visiting Sabarimala.

The transwomen met DGP A Hemachandran, who is part of the high court-appointed monitoring committee on Monday, and sought the support of the committee to have darshan. “The DGP cannot take a decision on his own. Hence, he said he would be consulting with the other members of the committee and will take a decision,” said Tripthi, one of the pilgrims.

They also met IG Manoj Abraham, who offered all the support and protection for them to trek the hill shrine.

“IG Manoj Abraham has promised all security for a safe darshan at Sabarimala. He has made it clear that there are no hurdles for us to trek the hill shrine,” Tripthi said.

However, they are yet to decide on the exact date of their pilgrimage. “Most probably we will be going there in a week. We wanted to prove that we have not come for publicity but we have come with true devotion,” Tripthi added.

The transwomen, who had complained that police at Erumeli station had asked them to change their women’s attire if they were to proceed to Sabarimala, maintained that they would wear black saris while visiting the hill shrine. They had complained to the

SP that the police had behaved with them rudely and made it clear that they would not be allowed to trek wearing sari.

This had invited severe criticism from various quarters and the transgender members had later decided to approach the HC-appointed monitoring committee seeking help.