Four women from Pune are determined to break the archaic tradition of prohibiting women from worshiping Lord Shani’s shrine from close quarters in Ahmednagar’s Shani Shingnapur village. After climbing the prohibited shrine arena on Sunday, they now plan to bring together at least 400 women to storm the temple premises, The Indian Express reported.
On Sunday, these four women, who belong to what they call the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade, breached the security around the barricaded platform where the idol of Lord Shani is installed. “Just when we were one step away from landing onto the concrete platform, we were blocked and pushed back,” Trupti Desai, one of the four women, said. She added that male security personnel had tried to force them off the platform for half an hour. They filed a complaint against them, but police took no action till Monday evening.
Trustees of the temple refute Desai’s allegations that women are blatantly discriminated against there. They claim that men and women are both not allowed to climb the platform so that they do not slip over spilled oil.
Desai did not disclose when the brigade of 400 women will barge into the temple premises. “The date won’t be disclosed until we finalise the plan. In fact, we might just carry out the plan and then announce it to the world,” she said.
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