text: No open doors for women devotees; group threatens to storm Shani Temple by chopper - NewsX
  No open doors for women…
  No open doors for women devotees; group threatens to storm Shani Temple by chopper
  Ahmednagar (Maharashtra): A women's group has threatened to storm the famous Shani Shingnapur Temple here — if need be, from the sky route via helicopter — on Tuesday, said an activist here.
  Security has been strengthened at the temple where women are barred from paying obeisance. However, the activists remain undeterred in their avowed objective — to offer prayers at the Shani temple.
  "We have already booked a helicopter and if we are not permitted to enter from the open ground, we shall drop ladders from the chopper and descend. We are not scared of any security since women's rights are concerned," Trupti Desai, president of Bhumata Ranragini Brigade (BRB) told reporters on Monday.
  She said around 1,500 women from all over Maharashtra shall troop down to the temple on Tuesday morning and perform prayers at the temple, dedicated to Lord Shani — the personification of planet Saturn.
  (Also Read: Woman creates history by becoming chairperson of famous Shani Temple Trust)
  Desai said women must be permitted access inside the temple as the country's Constitution treats men and women equally.
  "After tomorrow's (Tuesday) attempt succeeds, we shall launch similar agitations in other places of worship all over India where women are denied entry on various grounds," Desai said.
  Meanwhile, police and the temple authorities have put up three levels of barricades, deployed a considerable force of women constables and village volunteers to guard the temple from Tuesday's likely onslaught by BRB activists.
  The temple platform stands in the centre of the small village, also known as Sonai, and attracts millions of tourists and devotees from across the country and abroad.