Pathanamthitta Collector P.B. Noohu promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Cr.PC at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam, Pampa, Nilackal, and Elavumkal for two days from Wednesday midnight in view of the violence at Pampa and Nilackal.
Mr. Noohu told The Hindu that rallies or any such unlawful gatherings would not be held in the specified areas for two days. However, the prohibitory orders would in no way affect the pilgrims’ passage in groups to Sabarimala.
The police viewed the violence at Nilackal and Pampa as indicative of the fast-mutating nature of the “save Sabarimala agitation.”
Campaigners had used WhatsApp platforms to summon supporters to Nilackal who turned violent and targeted law enforcers, women journalists, and at least two Ayyappa devotees en route to the Sabarimala temple.
The Kerala State Women’s Commission registered a case against those responsible for the attack on women journalists at Pamba and Nilackal.
Commission Chairperson M.C. Josephine demanded the police to register a case to end the tendency to use one group of women to attack another. “ Women are becoming the victims of violence unleashed by another group of women in the name of faith,” she said in a release here on Wednesday.