Kerala - Kollam   

Police report says Mata's assailant was a regular visitor to her Math

Ignatius Pereira

Pavithran, a good bhajan singer, has been a devotee of the Mata for 14 years

KOLLAM: A report submitted by the Kollam police to the higher authorities on the alleged attempt on the life of Mata Amritanandamayi on Sunday says that the alleged assailant ``Pavithran is a regular annual visitor to the Math during the months of August and September''. He arrived at the Math on Saturday night for participating in a bhajan session led by the Mata, and ``investigations show that he is a fine bhajan singer,'' the report says. Following the ``incident,'' the Math had issued a statement on Monday saying that Pavithran (47) was a stranger to the Math. The Math had denied press reports that Pavithran was an inmate of the Math. ``Those living in the Math have never seen him on its premises,'' the statement added.

The police report says that Pavithran, a rubber tapper residing at Venmony in the Kanjikuzhy police station limits in Idukki district, has been a strong devotee of the Mata for the past 14 years. On Sunday he whipped out a ``budding knife'' when stopped by three permanent inmates of the Math from rushing to the stage (where the Mata was leading the bhajan session) through the ramp.

The report says that he is in the habit of carrying the budding knife following an incident in 1984 when he had to stab six Kerala Congress activists who attacked his father, Madhavan, over the issue of a ration shop at Venmony. The Kanjikuzhi police arrested him and registered a case. He was convicted in the case but later released under the Probation Offenders Act. He then went to the High Court and got the conviction set aside.

The report says that soon afterwards, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at a branch at Peringodu in Palakkad district and regularly attended it. He joined the Peringodu branch because he worked as a rubber tapper at a Peringodu estate. The report says that he is under the treatment of a neuro-psychiatrist.

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