Ignorant of the fact that permission into the hill-shrine is denied to women devotees between the age-group 10 to 50 years, a large number of them are arriving here.

Women devotees are often meted out the most inhuman treatment here. Last night, an eighth-standard student from Tamil Nadu had to run from pillar to post with her uncle to convince the authorities that she had not attained puberty, but in vain.

The poor girl was grilled for hours by women cops, security personnel and Vanita special officers appointed by the TDB. The interrogation continued until the girl broke down. The girl spent the whole night at Pampa Nadapandal until her uncle returned from the shrine, early this morning.

A series of such pathetic scenes are occurring in Pampa every day. Weeping women devotees begging for themercy of the Vanita special officers, is a common sight here.

Security men at the check post said that nearly 60 women devotees were detained by them the other day at Pampa. Most of them were reportedly unaware of the age restriction imposed by the TDB on women devotees.

``This is my first visit to the shrine. I was totally unaware of the age restriction until the security personnel prevented me from trekking the holy-hillock. I reached here after observing a 15-day vruta. How will the TDB compensate for this loss?'' asked Bala, 47, a devotee from Andhra Pradesh.

``The TDB should give wide publicity in neighbouring states, regarding the age restriction. It seems that none of our villagers are aware of the `taboo' prevailing in Sabarimala,'' she said.

There are several occasions when devotees turned violent and attempted to assault security men when they tried to block `suspected' women devotees.

Meanwhile, women police constables point out the risk factor in taking care of these `detained'women devotees. ``The make-shift aid post is deprived of any basic facilities. To meet their primary needs, the `detained' devotees have to depend on a guest house located far away. And we are forced to accompany them. Some of them also take this chance to vanish in the crowd. This morning I had to run after a devotee up to Neelimala to bring back her to the aid post,'' added a TDB guard.

The security men ask devotees to produce their photo-affixed certificate, signed by the concerned revenue officials. Unfortunately, the TDB's message is yet to reach distant villages in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, from where a major chunk of pilgrims, as well as the revenue, flow into the temple.