Third woman enters flashpoint Indian temple

Tears streaming down her face, a cameraperson kept filming as she was targeted by Sabarimala protesters went viral on social media. The cameraperson in the image, Shajila Abdulrahman of Kairali TV, suffered blows from protesters in state capital Thiruvananthapuram on wednesday. She was abused and heckled, but she kept filming. The protesters even tried to snatch her camera. She is in hospital and needs to wear a neck-brace. “I was crying because I realised I lost precious visuals and time to shoot … I was not crying out of fear. I was in tears because of helplessness," Shajila told NDTV. She admitted she used the camera to try and hide the tears.

Police in southern India yesterday said that a third woman has entered a flashpoint temple, stoking tensions after two days of clashes involving Hindu hardliners and police.

The Sabarimala temple in Kerala state has been at the centre of a prolonged showdown since India's top court overturned in September a ban on menstruating women aged 10 to 50 setting foot inside.

Before dawn on Wednesday two women in their 40s, escorted by police, became the first to access the shrine since the landmark verdict, sneaking in via a side entrance. They remained under police protection yesterday.

The third to enter the temple, on Thursday night, was a 47-year-old Sri Lankan woman, police said.

Clashes on Wednesday and Thursday between devotees, activists of Kerala's ruling leftist alliance and riot police firing tear gas and water cannon, left one man dead and at least 15 people injured, including four who were stabbed.

Police said that 1,369 people have been arrested, and that the situation on the ground on Friday was peaceful but tense.