Controversial ‘activist’ Rehana Fathima, who had recently tried to enter the holy Sabarimala shrine and desecrate it following Supreme court orders which granted permission to women of all ages to enter the temple ignoring the shrines age-old tradition barring women of menstruating age to enter the holy place, has been arrested by Pathanamthitta Police.

She has been accused of hurting religious sentiments through a Facebook post. She had earlier filed for anticipatory bail for social media post put up on 20th October which allegedly hurt religious sentiments. On 22nd October, Pathanamthitta Police had filed a case against her for a ‘communally divisive’ post under IPC section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or reli­gious beliefs) on basis of a complaint filed by the Sabarimala Samrakshana Samithi.

Rehana Fathima, who stirred a major controversy by trying to enter the shrine has had a very contentious past. A model in the past Fathima has been a part of the ‘Kiss of Love’ campaign in Kochi in 2014 against the purported moral policing. She had also stirred a controversy last year after she posed topless in a photo with watermelons as a mark of protest against a Kozhikode-based college professor’s remark comparing women’s breasts to watermelons.

She has also acted in a film called “Eka” produced by her partner Manoj K Sreedhar. The film is focused on “intersexuality”. The film features nudity and several bold scenes with Fathima. The film’s poster goes, “I am intersex, I have a p**is and a v***na by birth, I want to live”.