Sabarimala row: Five AP women stop trek midway

Guntur native Ravvarapu Balamma, who managed to reach Sannidhanam, returned to Pampa after the police checked her Aadhaar card and found that she was only 47.

47-year-old Balamma hailing from Andhra Pradesh at the hospital at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam.

SABARIMALA: The story was no different for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday as five women aged between 10 and 50 from Andhra Pradesh were blocked by devotees while attempting to trek to Sabarimala.
However, the police said the women were not aware of the protests being held in Sabarimala and they immediately decided to call off their trek.

While two women from Guntur were blocked by devotees at the Neelimala foothills and handed over to the police, the third was blocked at Nadapandhal near Sannidhanam, the fourth at Marakoottam en route to Sannidhanam and the fifth at Pampa. All five readily agreed to return to Pampa.

(From left) Latha, Aadisheshi and Vasanthi were among five women from Andhra Pradesh who cut short their trek to the Sabarimala temple on Sunday | Shaji Vettipuram

Guntur native Ravvarapu Balamma, who managed to reach Sannidhanam, returned to Pampa after the police checked her Aadhaar card and found that she was only 47. The others were identified as Vasanthi, Aadisheshi, Latha and Pushpaletha.Police officers said the women were part of a large group of devotees who had come from Andhra Pradesh and were ignorant of the ongoing protests.

“They were just like the female devotees who used to come to Sabarimala when the ban was in force. Earlier, a special female police team used to camp at Pampa to block female devotees who belonged to the age group of 10 and 50. These three women managed to start their trek from Pampa because we don’t have such a team in place at Pampa following the Supreme Court verdict,” said a senior police officer.