After fighting for entry of women to the Shani Shingnapur temple, social activist Trupti Desai said on Thursday that she would visit the Sabarimala temple in Kerala along with six other women on 17 November.
Desai has written an email to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asking for security as she feared for her life as she attempted to visit the temple.
"We will not return to Maharashtra without darshan at the Sabarimala temple", she was quoted as saying by PTI. However, the activist is yet to receive a response from the state government.
"I have not received any response from the Kerala government. If any incident occurs, the responsibility will be on Kerala chief minister and the DGP," she told ANI.
I have not received any response from the Kerala government. If any incident occurs, its responsibility will be on Kerala CM and DGP: Trupti Desai, founder of the Bhumata Brigade. She had written to Kerala CM seeking security for her visit to #SabrimalaTemple on 17 November pic.twitter.com/lB54OeU7AS
— ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2018
Desai also told The Indian Express,"I am constantly getting threats that I will be hacked to pieces if I set foot in the state, that I will not be able to make it to the temple alive. Raising all these concerns, I had written to the chief minister."
She further said that she is not scared for her life because this is a fight for equality.
The activist announced her plans to enter the temple after the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay its verdict which allowed entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala temple.
Meanwhile, Rahul Easwar, President of the Ayyappa Dharma Sena, said Ayyappa devotees would resist through 'Gandhian means', any attempt by Desai and her group to trek up to the holy shrine and offer prayers, reported PTI.
Ayyappa Dharma Sena is among the organisations protesting against the apex court's 28 September verdict lifting the ban on the entry of women in the 10-50 age group into the temple.
"We will lie down on the floor. We will protest and at all costs prevent them from offering prayers at the shrine", Easwar said.
The Supreme Court will hear all the review petitions on 22 January.