Odisha: 2 held as Lord Jagannath tattoo on foreigner’s thigh sparks row
Lord Jagannath tattoo on woman's thigh goes viral on social media, drawing protests from devotees and workers of Hindu outfit organisations
A tattoo parlour owner and one of his artists in Bhubaneswar were arrested by the Sahid Nagar police at the behest of Jagannath devotees on Monday (March 3). The complaint was filed over an image of Lord Jagannath tattooed on a foreign woman’s thigh at the parlour. The image has gone viral online.
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Case registered
A case has been registered against the tattoo parlour owner, Rockey Ranjan Bisoi, and tattoo artist, Aswini Kumar Pradhan, according to reports. The complaint has been registered under Section 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
According to an Indian Express report, Rockey confessed to the police that his artist, Aswini, inked the image of Lord Jagannath on the woman’s thigh even though he had advised her not to get the tattoo.
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Protests over viral photo
The Lord Jagannath tattoo went viral on social media, drawing protests from workers of Hindu outfit organisations and Jagannath devotees. According to reports, the woman works for a NGO and is an Italian national. The police are still verifying further details.
Apologies made on social media
The woman and the parlour owner have been seen apologising in a video on social media. In the video, they fold their hands and the woman says she did not mean to be disrespectful. “I am a true devotee of Lord Jagannath. I go to the temple every day. I made a mistake and, for this, I’m very sorry.” she says.
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She adds in the video that she had asked the tattoo artist to ink the Lord Jagannath tattoo in a ‘hidden place’ and did not want to create an uproar. She apologises once again and says she will get the tattoo removed once her skin heals.
