Rahul Easwar, activist and president of the Ayyappa Dharma Sena, has been arrested again on Sunday due to his actions and statements around the controversial Sabarimala women’s temple entry issue. On Sunday morning, he was arrested due to his controversial remarks stating that if any woman between the ages 10 and 50 entered the temple there were about 20 people waiting to cut their own hands and spill blood in Sabarimala, thereby forcing it to close due to desecration.
Rahul Easwar was arrested by Kochi police on Sunday morning from his apartment in Thiruvananthapuram. He posted from his Twitter account at 10.16 AM on Sunday saying that he was being arrested, and later, at 10.36 AM, that police were not allowing him to eat breakfast, and told him they were taking him to a hospital, but instead took him to the Central Police Station in Kochi next to Kochi High Court. In the tweet, he asked if these actions by the police, that is, not allowing him to eat breakfast and taking him to the police station when they told him they'd take him to the hospital, were human rights violations.
Police not allowed me to take breakfast, 1st promised that they will take me to kims hospital. Changed promise and taking me to central police station near high court kochi.
— Rahul Easwar (@RahulEaswar) October 28, 2018
Is this not human rights violation.
A case was filed against Rahul Easwar by a Thiruvananthapuram native and a non-bailable FIR was registered by Kochi police on Friday after he made the controversial remarks at a press meet in Kochi. He had been booked under Section 117 (abetting commission of offence by the public or by more than ten persons) and Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the IPC and 118(E) of the Kerala Police Act.
He was previously arrested on October 17 from 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 Sabarimala hill in a tractor under a tarpaulin sheet.
On October 22, Rahul Easwar was granted bail by a local court in Ranni in Pathanamthitta. His lawyer filed an emergency bail application with the local court after bail was rejected on October 20 by the Pathanamthitta first class magistrate.