A sensational incident has come to light at the ‘Sankat Mochan Shri Balaji Temple’ in Jito Market (under the jurisdiction of Shimlapuri Police Station), where a couple—having come to offer prayers—violated temple decorum and, upon being reprimanded, summoned goons to unleash a violent rampage. The woman is accused of inappropriately tampering with the idols installed in the temple. When the temple priest and devotees present stopped her, she called 5 to 7 anti-social elements from outside to the scene.
**Incident Captured on CCTV Cameras**
The miscreants stormed the temple premises and brutally assaulted the devotees, leaving two people seriously injured. During this scuffle and act of hooliganism, the *Trishul* (trident) of Lord Shani Dev was broken, and the sacred idol of Mata Sherawali was damaged. This entire incident of sacrilege and vandalism within the temple was captured on CCTV cameras installed there. The incident has sparked massive outrage among local devotees. Describing the event, the temple’s head priest, Pandit Rishav, stated that the couple had visited the temple for the first time. While offering prayers, the woman disregarded temple norms and began touching the idol of Shri Balaji Maharaj inappropriately, even attempting to apply *sindoor* (vermilion) to the idol herself.
**5 to 7 Outsiders Forcibly Entered the Temple Premises**
When Pandit Rishav and other devotees worshipping there asked the woman to stop, citing temple rules and decorum, she flew into a rage instead of calming down. She engaged in a heated argument with the priest and devotees, quickly resorting to hurling filthy abuses in public. As the dispute escalated, the woman refused to listen to anyone and summoned goons to the temple via her mobile phone. According to Pandit Rishav, within just minutes of a phone call, five to seven youths from outside arrived on two-wheelers and forcibly entered the temple premises. Upon arrival, the miscreants immediately attacked the devotees and temple attendants present without exchanging a word or stating a reason. Turning the sacred temple complex into a battleground, the assailants rained down kicks, punches, and blows with sticks. Two devotees present in the temple were left critically injured and bloodied in this sudden, cowardly attack. Amidst the scuffling and vandalism by the attackers, the sacred idols of the deities installed in the temple suffered severe desecration. During the rampage, the trident held by the idol of Lord Shani Dev broke and fell, while a finger on the sacred idol of Mata Sherawali was also damaged. As news of the damaged idols and the bloodshed within the temple spread, shopkeepers, local residents, and representatives of Hindu organizations gathered outside the temple in large numbers, creating a situation of high tension in the area.
