Video of Sabarimala Guard Shoving Devotees Goes Viral, Kerala HC Takes Cognisance 

Kochi: A day after the video of Sabarimala temple guard seen pushing and shoving praying devotees went viral, the Kerala High Court on Monday sought details from the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) about the incident and action taken against the guard concerned. 

The guard in the viral video is identified as Arun Kumar who is employed with the TDB which manages the hilltop shrine affairs. The manhandling incident was brought to the attention of the high court by a few lawyers. 

A bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajithkumar expressed its displeasure over the manhandling of devotees by the guard. The court disagreed with the clarification of the state government counsel who contended that this was done as part of the crowd control. 

As the incident drew flak from different quarters, the TDB management suspended Arun Kumar with immediate effect. The incident took place on January 14 - the peak day of the two-month long pilgrimage. 

#Malikkapuram നേരത്തെ എടുത്തത് നന്നായി. ഇപ്പോൾ ആയിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ ആ കുട്ടികളെ ഒറ്റയ്ക്ക് ദർശനത്തിന് വിട്ടിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ ആ കമ്മ്യൂണിസ്റ്റു mai# കഴുത്തിനു പിടിച്ചു വലിച്ചെറിഞ്ഞേനെ. 😡#Sabarimala pic.twitter.com/PcDAgAFb0j

— MalluSanghi 🇮🇳 (@MalluSanghi) January 16, 2023

The high court said the act of guard was in flagrant violation of the directions issued in the decision in Sajeev Sastharam. The court asked to include the TDP’s top official and also Arun Kumar as a party in the case and posted the matter for next hearing on Tuesday. 

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