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Kanakadurga, Who Made History By Entering Sabarimala, Attacked By Husband's Family

Kanakadurga and Bindu Ammini were in hiding after their entry into the shrine.

Kanakadurga, one of the first two women to enter Sabarimala after the Supreme Court verdict, was attacked by her husband’s family upon her return home on Tuesday, reports said.

Kanakadurga reached her house in Areekode, Malappuram, on Tuesday morning and was hit by her husband’s mother Sumathi when she entered the house.

“It was a fight. Her mother-in-law got angry and hit her. They were both injured and are in the hospital,” Perinthalmanna police told HuffPost India.

Police has registered a case against Sumathi, Malayala Manorama reported. Kanakadurga was taken to a hospital in Perinthalmanna taluk by the police, but later shifted to the Manjeri Medical College.

Kanakadurga’s brother Bharat Bhushan said Sumathi was pushed aside when police and party workers entered the house. “At that time, they both got into a fight,” he told the mediapersons.

However, Kanakadurga said she did not hit her mother-in-law. “When I entered the house, she came out from the kitchen and hit me with a strip of wood. She said,‘You can come in only once the police comes here’. I was hit on the head. She dragged me out of the house and closed the door. I did not hit her,” told reporters at the hospital.

Kanakadurga’s husband had filed a missing person report after her Sabarimala visit, reports Hindustan Times. Her brother had alleged her visit was a conspiracy of the Left and the state police. He told Times of India that the entire family was unhappy with her visit to the temple.

In hiding after temple visit

Bindu Ammini, who was with Kanakadurga at Sabarimala, returned to her home on Monday night.

The two women, who were in hiding after their entry into the shrine, told Reuters on 10 January that they faced threats from protesters since their visit but trusted the authorities to keep them safe.

“I always say that I trust the police persons, the state government of Kerala and also our democratic society of Kerala,” Ammini said.

Kanakadurga, a civil supplies employee and Bindu Ammini, a law lecturer at Kerala’s Kannur University, had entered Sabarimala on 2 January and offered prayers at shrine. The two were the first women to worship at the temple after the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to entry into the shrine.

Their visit triggered a series of protests across the state, forcing them to go into hiding.

The women made their first public appearance since the temple visit on Sunday when they attended ‘Aarpo Aarthavam’ programme in Kochi, an event to celebrate menstruation, The Hindu reported. The two-day event had been organised by activist groups in response to widespread protests by right-wing outfits over the implementation of the SC verdict.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.