The Kerala police confirmed again on Friday that Sasikala, a 46-year-old woman from Sri Lanka, had offered her prayers at the sanctum of the Sabarimala temple on Thursday night.
A top official told The Hindu that the police have video surveillance footage of her entering the shrine.
The woman and her family had intimated their arrival to the police in advance and sought their protection.
Her passport gave her date of birth as December 3, 1972. Plainclothes officers escorted the woman to the temple, and she prayed in front of the sanctum at around 9.30 p.m. on Thursday. They accompanied her downhill to Pampa by 11.30 p.m.
Ms. Sasikala had later told reporters that she did not offer prayers at the sanctum and the police had dissuaded her. The officer said the police had video footage of her visit on record and were ready to produce it if sought by the court or any competent legal authority. But, he said, matters of faith were highly personal and inextricably linked to the Right to Privacy and the police would not officially contradict Ms. Sasikala’s statement.
Ms. Sasikala’s visit had assumed political significance because it had occurred on Thursday when Kerala was caught in a maelstrom of political violence that left scores injured, disrupted life in general, and resulted in wanton destruction of public and private property across the State.
Meanwhile, the police have upped security at the pilgrim centre in the wake of reports that activists of the Sabarimala Karma Samathi, a Hindu Aikya Vedi construct, had marshalled their cadres to thwart any further police bid to escort women between the age of 10 and 15 to Sannidhanam.