Activist Rahul Easwar, who has been leading the protests against the Supreme Court verdict on women entering Sabarimala temple, has been accused of sexual harassment by an artist on Monday, 29 October.
The account of the alleged incident was posted by the artist, who wished to remain anonymous, on activist Inji Pennu’s Facebook page, reported NDTV.
The post was later removed.
WHAT WE KNOW
The post alleged that the incident took place around 2003-2004, when the survivor had passed out of Class 12, according to Deccan Chronicle. Easwar, who was reportedly in Trivandrum, had invited her over, stating that his mother was not at home. He then played a ‘soft porn’ movie and later, tried to kiss her multiple times, alleges the post.
"I want to say this today, as I see him everywhere now and these memories came rushing back on how he used to be. I strongly doubt his beliefs and words. Is he sincere and means all that he is saying now? In that case, his actions were opposite to that back in those days," said the now-removed post.
“Yesterday morning, a woman who is a well-known artist and a friend of mine, with whom I occasionally chat, mostly personal stuff, approached me and started to narrate these incidents about Rahul Easwar. I was stunned,” wrote Inji Pennu on her Facebook.
EASWAR’S VERSION
Speaking to NDTV, Easwar alleged that the allegations were "an ultra-feminist conspiracy" against Sabarimala devotees.
He alleged that the government had planned to arrest him once again before 5 November, when the Sabarimala temple is scheduled to open.
WHO IS RAHUL EASWAR?
Rahul Easwar is a member of the Thazhamon family of Sabarimala tantris (head priests). As the president of Ayyappa Dharma Sena, Easwar has been leading the protests against SC verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple.
Easwar had declared that if any women between the ages of 10 and 50 entered the temple, there would be about 20 people waiting to cut off their own hands and spill blood in Sabarimala, thereby forcing it to close due to desecration. After this, he was arrested by Kerala Police on 28 October.
Earlier, he was arrested on 17 October from the Sabarimala hill for obstructing police from carrying out their duties and unlawful assembly, through the course of his involvement in protests there. His wife, Deepa Rahul Easwar, at the time claimed he had been arrested in secret and carried away from the Sabarimala hill in a tractor under a tarpaulin sheet.
(With inputs from NDTV, Deccan Chronicle and PTI)
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