Kerala: Activist Rahul Easwar held for controversial remarks on Sabarimala issue

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 28: Rahul Easwar, activist and president of the Ayyappa Dharma Sena, has been taken into custody for his controversial statement on the Sabarimala issue.

Easwar was taken into custody under IPC Section 153(for promoting enmity b/w groups on grounds of religion) for his statement that 'there were people ready to make wounds in their hand and spill blood in temple so that temple have to be closed down'.

Easwar, among those who spearheaded the frenzied protests in Sabarimala, had said they had a contingency plan to force the closure of the temple by spilling blood on its premises by some devotees in case any woman in the 'barred' age group managed to reach it.

He had claimed that 20 Lord Ayyappa devotees opposing the entry of women in the age group of 10 and 50 were ready to inflict knife injuries on themselves on the temple premises which would have forced the priests to close the gates on account of impurity.

Rahul Easwar had been leading protests against the Supreme Court verdict allowing the entry of women of all ages into the temple.