Bindu Ammini, the first woman entered the Sabarimala temple in 2018, was attacked by a drunken fisherman in north Kerala’s Kozhikode on Wednesday evening.

She was attacked when she had gone to meet one of her lawyers. The Dalit activist is the first woman who had entered into the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala after the Supreme Court in one of its most discussed and controversial judgements of recent times allowed the women of menstruating age to enter the temple as against the tradition of the temple.

Bindu Ammini has filed a complaint with the police alleging that a man on the beach overpowered her and showered blows on her till she fell on the road. Bindu said, “I arrived on the beach to consult one of my lawyers. All of a sudden, a person came and blocked my two-wheeler, and started abusing me and showered blows on me. He ran away when some of the onlookers intervened. This was a planned attack.”

The attack was recorded by nearby people on their mobile phones. Several people had shared the video of the attack on social media, which Bindu had re-shared on her Facebook account.

Bindu superstated that it was not the first time she was attacked. She alleged RSS for targeting her for the Sabarimala incident. She claimed that she has been attacked over ten times so far.

“Sangh Parivar gave instructions to attack me in general. The police are safeguarding the attackers. The man attacked me has only been framed with bailable offences. The Sabarimala incident left me a target. So many people tried to enter the temple. They are now targeting only me because of my dalit identity,” Bindu Ammini said.

Last month she was reportedly hit by a speeding autorickshaw and was subsequently admitted to hospital.

Person attacked Bindu has been identified as fisherman Mohandas, a native of Beypore. The police had registered the case and checked the footage of the nearby CCTV cameras so that the alleged attacker can be identified.

ABOUT BINDU

Bindu Ammini is one of the first two women who entered the Sabarimala Temple on January 2, 2019, after the Supreme Court allowed the entry of female devotees of menstruating age inside the shrine.

Traditionally, the deity of the temple Ayyappa requires a prohibition on the entry of the women of menstruating age inside the Sanctum Sanctorum because the deity inside this particular temple resides in the form of a Brahmachari.

As the court granted the permission in contrast with the Dharmik tradition, the activist Bindu had entered the temple which attracted a lot of enraged devotees to surround the temple in the protection of their faith. The temple authorities too had to close the shrine for performing the purification rituals. The Supreme Court later formed a larger bench and referred this issue to the bench. The verdict is not yet delivered.