Kozhikode: The house of Aparna Sivakami, a cancer survivor and teacher who is close to the three young women who publicly stated their wish to make the Sabarimala pilgrimage, was attacked in the wee hours of Thursday.

The attack has come three days after Reshma Nishanth, Shanila Satheesh, and VS Dhanya conducted a press conference at the Ernakulam Press Club during which they narrated the bitter experiences they had been subjected to ever since they had expressed a wish to visit Sabarimala. At the Press Club, Aparna had only formally introduced her friends to the journalists. She had also made it clear that she did not wish to travel to Sabarimala. Aparna was on a six-month sabbatical from her school as she was recovering from highly exhausting chemotherapy sessions.

But soon after the November 19 press conference, Aparna started getting 'curse' messages. She was told that she had forgotten the prayers she received to recover from her illness. “It was around 2.30 am, when I heard stones pelted at our house in Kakkanchery, Malappuram. I think two or three people arrived on bike and parked it somewhere outside and walked in to pelt the stone. I could not see, who threw the stones,” Aparna said. She has filed a written complaint at the Thenhipalam police station.

The police have registered a case and begun investigation into the case.

The press conference on November 19, Monday, seemed to have caused a mighty provocation. Protesters belonging to the Hindu right-wing groups had gathered outside the Press Club chanting Ayyappa hymns. The atmosphere seemed so charged that the police had to escort not just Reshma, Shanila and Dhanya but also Aparna out of the Press Club building. In the press statement they had requested the devotees as well as the government to help them complete their holy abstinence, as it is believed that once an Ayyappa devotee wears the holy chain, it should be removed only after climbing the shrine.

Reshma had said her life turned for the worse after she announced on Facebook that she was planning to go to Sabarimala. She was even forced to resign her job as teacher, after the cyberthreats and verbal abuse in front of her house. Shanila, too, had similar experiences of cyberthreats. The women had nonetheless stated that they would make the Sabarimala pilgrimage only after the protests had subsided.