Bhubaneswar: A tattoo of Lord Jagannath on a foreign woman’s thigh has triggered an outrage among Jagannath devotees leading to the arrest of two persons who drew the tattoo.
The foreign lady, who is working in a NGO, had come to a tattoo shop in Sahid Nagar area and approached the shop owner to have a tattoo of Lord Jagannth in a hidden place in her body. The tattoo shop owner and his associate drew a tattoo on her thigh and uploaded it on social media, which went viral on social media, triggering protests by Jagannath devotees.
A few Jagannath devotees filed a complaint with the Sahid Nagar police station on last evening and a case was registered under Section 299 of BNS (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), ACP Biswaranjan Senapati.
After investigation, two persons have been arrested. The accused are Rocky Ranjan Bisoi (33), the tattoo shop owner and Aswini Kumar Pradhan (25), the tattoo artist, Senapati said.
Subrat Mohani, one of the persons who lodged the police complaint, said, “Inking Lord Jagannath tattoo at an inappropriate place hurt our sentiments. It is an insult to all Jagannath devotees and the Hindus in general. We filed the FIR demanding legal action against those involved in this incident.”
Following the controversy, the foreign national and the owner of the tattoo parlour issued public apologies on social media.
With folded hands, the woman, in a video, said, “I did not want to disrespect Lord Jagannath. I am a true devotee of Lord Jagannath and I go to temple every day. I made a mistake and for this, I am very sorry. I just asked the artist to ink the tattoo at a hidden place. I did not want to create any issue. I am very sorry for this. As soon as the tattoo area heals, I will remove it. Forgive me for my mistake.”
Nefore his arrest, the tattoo shop owner said the woman had approached his shop requesting a tattoo of Lord Jagannath on her thigh.
“Our staffers had advised her against it and suggested she got it inked on her arm instead. However, she insisted on getting it on her thigh. I sincerely apologise for this incident. I was not present at the shop at that time. The tattoo artist will either cover up the tattoo or remove it after about 25 days, as removing it now could cause infection,” the tattoo parlour owner said.
The woman has assured us that she will visit the shop again to either remove or cover up the tattoo, he said