PAMBA: As the Sabarimala row in Kerala refuses to die down, Ayyappa devotees Sunday prevented three Telugu-speaking women from climbing the holy hills.
The protesters chanting Ayyappa mantra stopped the women, said to be in their 40s, at the foothills itself.
The women were accompanied by their relatives.
The police, which took the women to safety, said that the women informed the security forces that they came to Sabarimala without knowing the customs of the temple.
The women were part of a pilgrims group visiting temples in Kerala.
They have been taken to Nilackal where their vehicle was parked, police said.
The protesters, however, allowed other women in the above 50 age group to climb the holy hills.
Meanwhile, two of the women from Andhra Pradesh, gave in writing to the police that they did not want to break the centuries-old custom of the temple, sources said.
Sunday is the fifth day since the temple gates were opened for the monthly puja after the Supreme Court last month lifted a centuries-old ban on women between 10 and 50 years entering the Lord Ayyappa shrine.
Meanwhile, the Sabarimala Karma Samithi has decided to strengthen its agitation against the CPI(M)-led Kerala government's "hasty" move to implement the Supreme Court order.
The Samiti has called for "namajapa yatra" (protest march chanting Ayyappa mantra) to police stations across the southern state against alleged police action on their activists.
Hundreds of women participated in one such protest march held in Erumeli, a key pilgrim centre connected with Sabarimala.
BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai urged the state government to convene assembly session to discuss the issue.
He claimed that even CPI(M) members in the state were opposing the bid to break the custom of the ancient shrine.
CPI(M) politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai said the protesters did not have the support of the Kerala society.
Kerala state police chief Loknath Behera said the police will conduct a review of the alleged police lapses while handling the issues related to Sabarimala after the doors of the shrine close on Monday after the monthly Pooja.
He said the Sabarimala pilgrim season beginning next month was going to be a challenging one for them.
Kerala has been witnessing massive protests by Lord Ayyappa devotees opposing the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the Sabarimala temple since the government decided to implement the apex court order.
On Saturday, SP Manju (38), the Kerala Dalit Mahila Federation President, abandoned her attempt to visit Sabarimala after being denied the special security cordon.
Inspector General Sreejith had said the heavy rain made it very difficult for his team to attempt the trek and this was conveyed to Manju.
Manju, who has allegedly been named in as many as 14 criminal cases, first met the cops to seek protection for paying darshan to Lord Ayyappa. The state intelligence department verified the activist's antecedents before deciding against throwing special security cordon around her because of the heavy rain.
Manju, a Kollam resident had come dressed in traditional attire and was carrying the irumudi kettu, consisting of coconut, camphor, incense stick, row rice and flowers, decided to head back home a short while later, according to reports. She had insisted that her visit was as a devotee wanting to have a darshan of Lord Ayyappa and not as an activist.
On Friday, 46-year-old woman Mary Sweety made a failed attempt to climb the shrine. Her houses at Thumba and Murukkumpuzha were vandalised by unidentified persons.
However, cases were not registered since no complaints were lodged with the police.
On the same day, Kochi-based rights activist Rehana Fathima and a Hyderabad journalist Kavitha Jakkala tried to enter the Swami Ayyappa temple few hours before Mary. Rehana's house too was attacked by unidentified men.
New York Times journalist Suhasini Raj, on Thursday, while undertaking a trek along with her male foreign colleague towards the hill shrine, faced stone-pelting and abuses from protesters. Although she was under police protection, the Delhi-based scribe abandoned the trip.
(With Inputs from ENS and Agencies)