As
previously reported, last month India's Supreme Court struck down a ban on women between the age of 10 and 50 years from entering the Sabarimala Temple. However, yesterday's
New York Times reports that implementing the Court's ruling has been difficult:
When the temple reopened for six days on Wednesday, for the first time since the court’s decision, the pilgrimage path became a kind of conflict zone, pitting traditionalists against police officers who vowed to enforce the law and protect any woman who wished to visit.
At least 12 women attempted the journey. Each was met with a mob that variously shouted in her face, pummeled the police, set vehicles on fire, hurled rocks and blocked the steep, three-mile trail leading to the temple by lying on its slippery stones. All of the women were forced to turn back. One was so overwhelmed that she fainted.
