Transwomen make Kerala pilgrimage with police escort

Compiled by FATIMAH ZAINAL, YIMIE YONG and R. ARAVINTHAN 

FOUR transgender women who were initially stopped from entering a temple in Kerala, India, were eventually allowed to complete their pilgrimage, Tamil dailies reported.

They were stopped by the police at the compound entrance and were allegedly told to put on men’s clothes before being allowed to enter.

However, they were later allowed to proceed to the temple and complete their prayers under heavy police protection.

The temple, which is one of the holiest pilgrimage destinations for Hindus, has been embroiled in a controversy since the Indian Supreme Court ordered the management to permit women of all ages to pray there.

Women between the ages of 10 and 50 were previously not allowed entrance.

 

> The Indian community in Muar, Johor, is seeking an explanation after reports emerged that a Tamil school, which has just six pupils, will be closed, Malaysia Nanban reported.

The school, which is about 20km from Muar, is expected to shut down on Dec 31.

The affected parents want to know who approved the closure of the school.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.