Rape will increase after women are allowed to enter Shani temples: Swami Swaroopanand

"If they worship Shani then the incidents of rape will increase,"  Swami Swaroopanand was quoted as saying to media.

In a landmark victory for women devotees, the gates of Maharashtra's Shani Shingnapur temple were thrown open to them ending the centuries-old discriminatory rule of preventing females from entering the shrine, reports said.

The temple authorities said that women will neither be encouraged nor stopped from entering the temple.

Over 100 men recently had forced their way into the inner sanctum,defying the trust's order that nobody would be allowed to offer prayers there.

The new restrictions barring the entry of both men and women were introduced to circumvent a court ruling that women and men must have equal access to Hindu places of worship.

In a landmark verdict, the Bombay High Court on April 1 declared that no law prevents women from entering places of worship. The court, in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Vidya Bal and Nilima Varta, said there should be no gender discrimination as far as entering a place of worship is concerned.

On April 4, activist Trupti Desai was once again barred entry. In earlier attempts, Desai had been detained by the police as she neared thetemple.

The government has pledged to the Bombay High Court that it will enforce a law that comes with six months in jail for preventing someone from offering prayers at a temple.

Last year, after a woman devotee managed to offer prayers to the Shani idol, a priest conducted an emergency cleansing ceremony.