A 21-year-old man from Chennai was arrested on Saturday for allegedly circulating a video featuring Lord Ayyappa with a menstruating woman. According to reports, Selvam, who lives in Thiruninravur near Chennai, made a video reportedly showing Lord Ayyappa in a bad light.
Selvam allegedly posted the video on social media and circulated it to a wider audience. He was arrested based on a complaint filed by a member of the Hindu Makkal Katchi and was remanded to judicial custody.
The video comes after the recent verdict of the Supreme Court on Sabarimala. While traditionally, women between the ages of 10 and 50 are not allowed entry to temple, the Supreme Court, in a recent judgment, has allowed the entry of women of menstruating ages to visit Sabarimala.
The court held that physiological and biological factors cannot be given legitimacy if they don't pass the muster of conditionality. This judgment by a five-judge Constitution bench has prompted many religious groups to hold demonstrations against the verdict.
While the government of Kerala and the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the temple, have decided not to file a review petition, others like the Pandalam Palace Coordination Committee, the Thazhamon Thanthri family and the Nair Service Society have decided to go ahead and try seeking recourse using review petition.
Meanwhile, the government of Kerala started making arrangements to welcome women devotees to the pilgrim site. Earlier in the week, the CM had told officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board to implement the Supreme Court’s order without any delay. After the meeting, Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran said that it has been decided to make necessary arrangements in Sabarimala for women pilgrims, keeping in mind the SC verdict on Sabarimala.