Rehana Fathima insists that she is an Ayyappa devotee
Kerala High Court on Friday denied anticipatory bail to model and activist Rehana Fathima who had almost made it to the Sabarimala temple in October after the Supreme Court ruling lifted a ban on women of menstruating age entering the hill shrine.
Ms Fathima has been accused of hurting religious feelings with her "insulting" social media posts on Lord Ayyappa, the deity at Sabarimala shrine.
A case was registered against her on October 30 based on a complaint filed by the Sabarimala Samrakshana Samithi, a group that claims to fight for upholding the "traditions at the temple" accused Ms Fathima of insulting the Hindu religious belief with her social media posts.
Ms Fathima said she did no wrong and will move Supreme Court for an anticipatory bail.
Some eleven days before the case was registered against her, Ms Fathima had almost made history at Sabarimala. Escorted by the police and in riot gear, she, along an Andhra Pradesh journalist, reached a few metres away from the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine when they were stopped by the protesters including the temple priests.
The protesters believe that allowing women of menstruating age to the temple is an insult to Lord Ayyappa, the celibate deity at the temple.
Shortly after her failed attempt, Kerala Temple Affairs minister Kadakampally Surendran said the "activists with agenda" should not try to enter the temple.
Ms Fathima insists that she is an Ayyappa devotee. The activist's house was vandalised by unidentified people while she was away trying to climb the holy hill to the temple.
Later, she was expelled from the Muslim community for "hurting the sentiments of lakhs of Hindu devotees" by the Kerala Muslim Jama'ath Council. Her employer, public sector BSNL, had transferred her to another location, but the company insisted the move had nothing to do with what Ms Fathima did in her "private capacity."