PAMBA: Around 1.30am on Thursday, while returning from Sannidhanam after duty, the TOI team saw a lone, anxious woman walking down the deserted forest path towards Pamba . There were hardly any people on that path, except a few, scattered devotees moving towards Sannidhanam.Given the late hour and sensing her unease, we walked alongside her and asked if she was okay. Seeing us, she felt a bit relieved and introduced herself as Nannoor Vootkur Maheswari from Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh . She was returning to Pamba after police at Nadapanthal denied permission for darshan citing age regulation though her ID card proved she was on the threshold of 50. We accompanied her till Pamba and she narrated her story along the way.Maheswari arrived here with her husband and a group of devotees. “I was aware of the issues prevailing in Sabarimala . But, I had faith in the government and police as they had implemented SC verdict. I felt my dream of seeing Lord Ayyappa was about to come true when police at Pamba allowed me to go ahead after verifying my ID,” she said.Along the way, police checked her ID at three points. Moreover, there was no protest as footfalls were low. “I was excited when I reached Nadapanthal. But police, who were supposed to help me have darshan, turned villain. They told me that I was six months short of turning 50 and if devotees realized it, there would be trouble,” she said.Maheswari did not argue and agreed to return. She had one request: to wait till her husband returned with their group after darshan. But, police wanted her to leave the spot right away in the middle of the night as increasing crowd might cause trouble. “I never expected this kind of curt behaviour. I was unhappy that I couldn't have darshan. I became helpless when my husband said he would return right away to accompany me. I convinced him to stay back and volunteered to return alone. I am not brave, but I did not want my husband to miss his darshan,” she said.Her relatives were waiting at Nadapanthal for the temple to open at 5am. During the hour-long walk, she looked back several times to see if someone from her group had come in search of her. By 2.30am, we guided her to the policewomen camp at Pamba where she waited for her group to return. While bidding farewell, she thanked us and said: “It’s an unforgettable incident. Don’t think I will be able to come here again even if I turn 50.”Meanwhile, SP V Ajith, who is in charge of security at Sannidhanam, said police were unaware of Thursday’s incident. “We sent back a few women. But, policemen in mufti always followed them to ensure safety,” he said.

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