Indian Police Launch Probe as Clip of Hindu Women Marching With Swords in Kerala Goes Viral

On 22 May, hundreds of female Hindu activists, aged between 15 and 35, marched brandishing swords and raising slogans in the village of Keezharoor in Thiruvananthapuram district.

Police in the Indian state of Kerala on Monday registered an official complaint against 200 unidentified Hindu women activists of Hindu group -- Durga Vahini -- for taking out a march with weapons in Thiruvananthapuram District.

'Durga Vahini' (meaning an army of the Goddess Durga) is an all-female wing of the top Hindu organisation — Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

In a clip which has gone viral on social media, a number of women in white Indian dresses and saffron scarfs can be seen marching in the area, chanting the slogan "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" (Hail, Mother India) in Hindi.

The girls leading the march are seen holing wooden sticks whereas the others following them are carrying swords.

As many as 200 persons are reportedly booked in connection with a Durga Vahini (women’s wing of VHP) rally organised in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram on 22 May. Swords were brandished in the rally, the complaint says. ⁦@TheQuint⁩ pic.twitter.com/YWh977BPzv

— Nikhila Henry (@NikhilaHenry) May 30, 2022

After the march, Popular Front of India (PFI), a student organisation in the state, filed an official complaint against Durga Vahini.

Kerala state police registered the case under the Arms Act as well as Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 144 (joining unlawful assembly with a weapon), 147 (rioting), 149 (if an offence is committed by any member of an unlawful assembly, every other member of such assembly shall be guilty of the offence), and 153 (provoking with intent to cause riot), The Indian Express daily quoted a police official as saying.

However, the VHP said that they'd obtained prior permission from the police to organise a march.

Police have admitted though that a permission was obtained but without revealing to them what kind of march it will be.

"The women were representing the armed Goddess Durga, and the swords were fake," VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said, adding that they will keep on organising such a march across the country, and in the state of Kerala in the future.

Goddess Durga is worshipped by millions of Hindus for protection, strength, and her power to punish demons.

Similar events were held in neighbouring Karnataka state, where the Hindu group Bajrang Dal allegedly imparted training in shooting airguns to boys at a camp in Kodagu district earlier this month.

In 2019 June, police filed an official complaint after several female Hindu activists who fired air rifles and showcased swords in a rally in the Nigdi area of Pune district.