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KOCHI / NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Hundreds of Hindu protesters prevented two women from entering a temple in southern India on Friday, during a third day of stormy protests against the uprising. prohibition of women of menstrual age.
Three dozen priests staged a sit-in against the Supreme Court ruling that overturned a ban barring women between the ages of 10 and 50 from entering the Sabarimala Temple, paying tribute to the single God Ayyappan, in southwestern Kerala.
Some Hindu communities consider women who have their menses unclean.
"They have decided to return provided that we provide them with protection," S. Sreejith, Inspector General of Kerala, told reporters, saying that the chief priest had threatened to close the temple if they entered the temple.
TV channels showed topless men sitting in protest at the temple entrance, applauding and shouting religious chants, even as hundreds of policemen were trying to ease tensions.
Hindu extremists, including young members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party in India, have been involved in fierce clashes with police in Kerala and have attacked women, including journalists who tried to visit the temple this week.
A photo published Thursday at the front page of an Indian newspaper showed a journalist pleading with protesters after a crowd surrounded her and damaged her.
Report from Jose Devasia to KOCHI and Malini Menon to NEW DELHI; Written by Sudarshan Varadhan; Edited by Nick Macfie
