Actress Jayamala chargesheeted over Sabarimala claim

The crime branch of Kerala police submitted a charge sheet against Kannada actress Jayamala and two others for their alleged “game plan”, which made her claim that she had touched the feet of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala 23 years ago.

The police registered a case after Jayamala faxed a message to the executive officer of Sabarimala in June 2006, claiming that she had touched the idol. The hill shrine is out of bounds for women aged between 10 and 50.

The actress claimed that she had visited Sabarimala in April 1987. She was then 28 years old.

Jayamala’s message was received after an astrologer, Unnikrishna Panikker, of Parappanangadi in Kerala’s Malappuram district said that a woman had desecrated the shrine. The actress’s fax message created a furore among believers.

The charge sheet, filed before the first class judicial magistrate at Ranni in Kottayam district, held Panikker as the prime accused and his associate Raghupathy as the second accused. Jayamala is the third accused in the case.

“Jayamala in her confessional statement said that Panikker was her personal astrologer and confidant. She had further stated that the fax message and owning up touching the main idol at Shabarimala was done at his behest,” the police alleged in the chargesheet. The police also pointed out that the Jayamala made the claim soon after the astrologer’s predictions.
Jayamala was not available for comment.