Case registered against some 200 people.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
A group of women devotees was attacked at the Trimbakeshwar temple in Nashik, Maharashtra, on Wednesday, reported Press Trust of India. They were trying to enter the inner sanctum of the temple when some local residents assaulted them.
The police have registered a case against about 200 people for assaulting the women devotees.
The temple trust had decided to permit women to enter the sanctum sanctorum on the condition that they should wear wet cotton or silk clothes. The entry is also restricted to one hour a day from 6 am to 7 am.
“I was standing along with our women activists in the queue since 5 am to gain entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. We also followed the dress code – wearing wet cotton clothes – for the purpose,” Vanita Gutte, president of Pune-based ‘Swarajya Sanghatana’ told PTI.
“The entry into the sanctum sanctorum is restricted between 6 am and 7 am, the time that has been fixed by the temple trust. However, some local priests and women deliberately stood in the queue before us and obstructed us from entering the sanctum. They also manhandled us,” she added.
The temple authorities’ decision to permit women entry came after an agitation carried out by the Swarajya Sanghatana.
“200 persons, including the former municipal president of Trimbakeshwar, have been booked under IPC sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 341 (wrongful restraint), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention),” Inspector of Trimbakeshwar police station H P Kolhe said
Last week also a group of women had tried to enter the temple under the leadership of Vanita Gutte. But they were blocked by some priests and temple workers. They filed a complaint with the police after that incident.
On March 30, while hearing a public interest litigation questioning the custom that prevents women from entering the sanctum sanctorum of Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court had ruled that men and women could not be discriminated to enter places of worship. It also said that the state has the fundamental duty to protect the rights of women.
The BJP government of Maharashtra had also informed the court that the government is against any kind of gender discrimination at places of worship and it backed entry of women in temples.