Kozhikode: A woman teacher, who apparently provoked right-wing outfits opposing the entry of young females into Sabarimala temple, was verbally abused and threatened by a four-member gang late on Monday night at Agali in Palakkad district. The incident happened hours after a protest taken out against her by a group was stopped by the Agali police. The teacher, Bindu Thankam Kalyani, was in the news for her attempt to visit the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala on October 22.
Around 9.30 pm Monday, four men reached the house, near Kottathara, where Bindu is currently put up after her recent transfer to an Agali school. The house belongs to her friend.
Bindu said that she was staying with her 11-year-old daughter and her friend, the owner of the house, when she heard the commotion outside. “Soon after I got transferred to Agali Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, I had been trying to get a house on rent. However, those people claiming to be devotees are stopping every bid to get a safe place for stay. My child is also scared to stay here now, after last night's incidents,” she said.
"Nearly four men gathered in front of the house at night. I shut the doors as soon as I heard their voice so that nobody could enter inside. They left after some time, threatening that I would not be allowed to live safely in that place," Bindu added.
Marked one
The verbal and social media attack on Bindu started ever since she expressed her wish to reach the hill shrine in Sabarimala soon after the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all age groups to enter it. She appeared before TV news channels stating that she was ready to go to Sabarimala and expected protection from the police.
The teacher was accompanied by two of her friends during her Sabarimala trip, but all of them were stopped soon after they crossed Erumely and were sent back by the police. The day after she attempted the pilgrimage, she faced protests in front of her school from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and other right-wing personnel.
Bindu, who was teaching at Medical College Campus Higher Secondary School, Kozhikode, was transferred to the school at Agali only last month.
On Monday morning, protesters under the banner of Karma Samithi took out a protest march from the Ayyappa temple in Agali to the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, where she teaches now.
Bindu had joined the new school on October 29 and since then she has been facing protest from even her students for her attempt to go to Sabarimala. The Samithi is reportedly circulating pamphlets, asking the believers not to let her continue with her job at Agali. They also claim to have informed the school 'their dissent over her continuing as a teacher in the school that has many students who are Ayyappa devotees'.
Bindu said that she would seek protection from the police against the repeated abuse and attempt to restrict her right to live and work.
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