Sabarimala row: Kerala court rejects bail for activist Rahul Easwar, asks police to file report on protests by 22 October

A court in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta on Saturday rejected a bail plea filed for activist Rahul Easwar, who was spearheading the protests against women’s entry to Sabarimala. The court has asked the police to file a report on the ongoing protests by 22 October, only after which can it consider any new bail applications. Easwar, the grandson of the former high priest of the Sabarimala shrine, was detained along with 18 others by Kerala Police on Wednesday. A report from CNN-News18 quoted Easwar’s wife Deepa as saying that he was allegedly arrested in a secretive manner, hauled up in a tractor, and that he needs urgent medical attention. As per The News Minute, she said, “Rahul has not eaten for two days. He is on an indefinite hunger strike for Sabarimala. He would have done this fast if he was at Sabarimala also, now that they have moved him to jail he is going to continue it.” Hindustan Times quoted her as saying that doctors told her that he may be shifted to the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram.

Rahul was charged by Pamba police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including Section 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), read with Section 149 (member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecuting of common object of the assembly), and Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public serving from discharge of duty).