Sabarimala: Kerala High Court calls for action against Devaswom guard who shoved pilgrims

The Kerala High Court on Monday called for legal action against a Devaswom guard who was seen in a now viral video, shoving pilgrims in a violent manner in front of the sanctum sanctorum of Sabarimala temple [Suo Motu v State of Kerala & Ors.]..After watching some videos of the incident, a division bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajithkumar strongly deprecated the body language and facial expression of the guard.“We have also viewed the visuals that appeared in visual media. As stated in the report of the Special Commissioner, the body language and the facial expression of the Devaswom guard, while shoving the pilgrims in front of Sreekovil of Sabarimala Sannidhanam has to be deprecated in the strongest words. For such misbehavior towards pilgrims, the Devaswom guard has to be proceeded against, in accordance with the law,” the Court said..The Court passed the order on a matter taken up by it on the basis of a report submitted by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner regarding the misbehavior of the guard who was deployed by the Travancore Devaswom Board, on the Makaravilakku day, January 14.The Special Commissioner of Sabarimala had seen these visuals in visual media and subsequently called for a report from the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer, Travancore Devaswom Board regarding the identity of the Devaswom guard.The Chief Vigilance and Security officer filed a report stating that due to the pressure of the crowd from the flyover to the temple after Deeparadhana, there arose congestion and a direction was given to speed up the crowd flow in that process. The officer said that it is because of this that the guard pushed forward the devotees coming along the first row.Moreover, the guard was relieved from duty at Sabarimala and sent back to his home station on the next day January 15.Thereafter, the court directed the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer to submit an affidavit explaining the facts and circumstances and also the action, if any, taken against the guard for his misbehavior towards pilgrims..The matter will be taken up next on January 24. .[Read Order]