Two women aged below 50 arrived at the Sabarimala temple with heavy police escort on Friday but returned after protesting devotees and staff blocked their way and the cops declined to remove them by force.

Shortly after Hyderabad journalist Kavitha Jakkal and Kochi-based activist Rehana Fathima abandoned the visit, Kerala devaswom minister K. Surendran said the temple was not the place for activists to show their strength and that only genuine devotees should enter.

Fathima’s home in Kochi was attacked later in the day, reports said.

The Supreme Court last month quashed a centuries-old ban on women in the “menstrual age” (10 to 50 years) entering the temple, and Kerala’s Left government decided to implement the verdict, triggering protests by devotees and Hindu outfits.

Small groups of under-50 women, mostly journalists, have tried to reach the shrine since it opened on Wednesday but have been thwarted by mobs, who threw stones at some of the women.

As Jakkal and Fathima were returning from the temple, a 46-year-old woman made an attempt to trek to the shrine from Pamba, 5km downhill, but turned back following protests by devotees.

The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the shrine, said it would approach the Supreme Court and ask it to defuse the tensions prevailing since its order and the government’s attempts to implement it. The board is a respondent to all the review petitions moved in the apex court by Hindu groups.

Jakkal, said to be in her late 20s, and Fathima had reached the hilltop shrine only to be blocked by devotees and temple staff who squatted on the 18 sacred steps leading to the sanctum sanctorum.

When the women insisted on going in, the police told them the state government did not intend to use force against the devotees to facilitate their entry. Officers also cited the stand taken by the tantri (head priest) that he would close the temple if the duo were escorted into the sanctum sanctorum.

The women then agreed to turn back and the tension was defused, inspector-general S. Sreejith, head of the escort team, told reporters. The devotees, who included children and the elderly, received the announcement with thunderous chants of “Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa”.

Minister Surendran confirmed in Thiruvananthapuram that the government was not ready to use force and hurt the devotees’ sentiments.

“The government has the duty and responsibility to implement the Supreme Court order and give protection to devotees but not to activists,” he said. “The police should have examined the veracity and background of the women who came to trek to the shrine.”

The Opposition Congress and the BJP attacked the state government for allegedly supporting attempts by activists to enter the temple. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala also accused the Sangh-BJP of trying to inflame communal passions.

State police chief Loknath Behera met governor P. Sathasivam, who had sought an update on the situation, and told him the police were equipped to protect genuine devotees looking to pray at Sabarimala. However, he said, the feelings of the devotees were also being considered.

Orders prohibiting the assembly of more than four people, promulgated in the temple complex, Pamba and Nilackal, have been extended till October 22 but “genuine devotees” have been exempted.

In an advisory, the Union home ministry has asked Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to tighten security in view of the continuing protests against the apex court verdict.

Devaswom board president Padmakumar said the board would file a detailed report in the apex court and Kerala High Court on the situation at Sabarimala to try and find a way of defusing the crisis.