Kerala's first female IPS officer defends remark on temple ritual amid election row

Thiruvananthapuram: As Kerala's first woman IPS officer R Sreelekha enters the electoral politics as BJP candidate in the Thiruvananthapuram local body polls, an earlier remark she made against a famed temple's ritual is being raked up by her opposite camps.

It was in 2018 that Sreelekha, who was then serving as director general of prisons, flayed the 'Kuthiyottam' ritual of the famed Attukal Bhagavathy Temple.

The ritual involved piercing small iron hooks into the skin of minor boys. She said in her personal blog that the act of piercing the hook on the body of young boys and causing physical and mental pain to them was an offence under the law.

After the IPS officer's remark triggered a row, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights had suo motu initiated a case.

However, the ritual is still happening as part of the popular Attukal pongala festival of the temple, which holds world record of being the largest gathering of women.

With Sreelekha contesting as BJP candidate, some Congress leaders are raking up her earlier remark over the temple ritual. Congress leader Sandeep Varrier asked in a social media post whether the BJP activist and other Sangh Parivar and Hindu outfits were working for one who criticized a temple ritual.

Sreelekha is countering it by stating that she was not against any temple rituals, but was only against wrongdoings and superstitions. She also cited that the Kerala High Court had already stopped a similar ritual involving young boys at the Chettikulnagara Sree Bhagavathy temple in Alappuzha district.

Sreelekha, who joined the BJP last year and was made the party state vice-president, is contesting from the Sasthamangalam ward in Thiruvananthapuram corporation.