The Kerala police said they have arrested activist Rehana Fathima (39) on charges of attempting to disrupt public peace by posting religiously controversial comments about Ayyappa devotees and Sabarimala on social media.

A police team from Pathanamthitta secured the custody of the BSNL employee from her office in Kochi on Tuesday. She will be produced before a court in Pathanamthitta later in the day.

Ms. Rehana, an outspoken advocate of gender equality and women’s rights, has been booked under Section 153(a) of IPC on charges of “creating communal disharmony and enmity between groups by the written word and visible representations in the digital world.” An officer said they had arrested her based on a complaint from an Ayyappa devotee.

Earlier, Kerala High Court had denied Ms. Rehana’s plea for anticipatory bail in the case.

Ms. Fathima had courted controversy when she attempted to trek to Sabarimala in the company of Hyderabad-based journalist Kavitha during the “thulamasa” puja in October. A huge posse of police officers in riot gear escorted them within a km of the temple. However, the women had to return in the face of stiff opposition from right-wing activists who opposed the entry of women of mestruating age to the temple.

Ms. Rehana, a mother of two and the daughter of a filmmaker, is not new to controversy. She was an active champion of the “Kiss of Love” movement; a non-violent protest organised largely by apolitical youth against what they described as the tendency of certain groups to police the behaviour of couples in public spaces or “moral vigilantism”. She had also challenged social mores by getting women to stage the “tiger dance or puli kali” traditionally performed by men during Onam festival.

Unknown persons had vandalised Ms. Rehana’s house in Kochi purportedly in retaliation for her daring trek to Sabarimala. She had also complained to the police that she was the target of online and physical threats, mostly anonymous, and vilification on social media.