Kerala High Court relief to nine-year-old girl who wishes to visit Sabarimala amid Covid-19

While restrictions due to Covid-19 have cast a shadow over the wish of a nine-year-old girl in Kerala to visit Sabarimala Ayyappa temple before she attained the restricted age of ten by this June, the Kerala High Court gave relief by issuing an order to allow darshan for the child by relaxing Covid-19 restrictions at the hill shrine.

Nanditha Raj, daughter of Abiraj C hailing from Vaikom in Kottayam district, got the High Court order in her favour on Friday and she made the darshan on Saturday itself.

Her parents made a vow before her birth that they would take the child to Sabarimala once. She is turning ten by this June. Women in the 10-50 age group are restricted from entering the shrine as a 2018 Supreme Court order scrapping the restriction is now under review by a larger bench.

Hence, Nanditha's parents were compelled to take her to the temple before this June. But owing to restrictions imposed due to Covid-19, pilgrims below the age of ten are not being allowed darshan now.

The family took up their grievance before the Kerala High Court and the court on Friday ordered that the child may be allowed darshan along with her parents.

The family took Nanditha to the hill shrine on Saturday as Abiraj had earlier obtained an online token for darshan on this day.

Abiraj told DH over the phone from Sabrimala that the HC order was a great relief for them as their vow over their child could be fulfilled.

Advocate P G Jayashankar, who appeared for the family, said that many other families were learnt to have faced similar situation owing to Covid.