Bhoomata Ranragini Brigade leader Trupti Desai was injured and had to be hospitalised after being attacked by a group of protesters after entering the sanctum sanctorum of the Mahalaxmi temple in Kolhapur.
Ignoring the “advice” from the police to wear a sari inside ‘girbh griha‘ of the temple, the woman activist entered the inner sanctum in a salwar kameez though some priests and devotees tried to block her way.
Subsequently, it led to a scuffle between Desai and local women protestors.
According to a Times of India report, Desai arrived at the temple around 6pm and was first stopped by around 50 odd protesters opposing her entry. A group of priests blocked the first threshold of the sanctum sanctorum.
Earlier in the day, Desai and other activists were taken into preventive custody by the police when they tried to proceed towards the temple in a procession allegedly in violation of prohibitory orders. Desai headed towards temple at night after she was detained by police during day time.
She and other activists had organised the ‘Vijay’ rally in afternoon to mark “victory” for the cause of women who were recently allowed to enter the inner sanctum of the temple in a major departure from the long-standing tradition.
Desai and her associates were stopped in Tararani Chowk by police where they had gathered to organise the procession.
The atmosphere around the temple was tense and shops downed shutters as activists of Shiv Sena and other organisations gathered in the area after Desai insisted on taking darshan of the deity, clad in salwar kameez instead of sari, the formal dress code suggested by police and priests.