New Delhi: Four women were stopped on the pathway to the Sabarimala temple by Ayyappa devotees and forced to return as protests against the Supreme Court order opening the hilltop shrine to women of all ages continued across Kerala and outside. These four women belong to Andhra Pradesh.

Since the temple opened on Wednesday for the first time after the apex court order, protesters have stopped 10 women aged less than 50 from entering it. Out of them, most were journalists or activists.

In the first incident on Sunday, two women, said to be in their 40s, were part of a pilgrim group visiting temples in Kerala and claimed they did not know the customs of the Lord Ayyappa temple, the police were quoted as saying.

As the protesters stopped the women at the Pambha base camp, police escorted them to the control room.

“They were part of a pilgrimage group from Andhra. They had been to other temples also and didn’t know of special rituals in Sabarimala Temple,” inspector general of police S Sreejith told media, adding the women gave a written statement that they did not want to proceed. They were taken back to Nilakkal, where their vehicle was parked.

Following this, protesters found another woman on the path to the temple and stopped her too, asking her to go back upon checking her Aadhaar card, which stated she was 47, reported IANS. Police reached the spot and took the woman, who felt a bit uneasy amid the ruckus, to a clinic. She subsequently did not proceed.

Another woman, who reached the hilltop on a palanquin, was stopped by protesters about a kilometre from the temple. As the protesters surrounded her, police took her downhill to the Pambha base camp.