A tattoo artist in Bhubaneswar, India, has been arrested following a controversial tattoo of a local Hindu deity inked on a woman’s thigh, leading to widespread protests from Hindu groups and devotees.
The incident occurred when 33-year-old tattoo parlor owner Rocky Ranjan Bisoi and his artist, 25-year-old Ashwini Kumar Pradhan, tattooed an image of Lord Jagannath on the thigh of an Italian woman, who had specifically requested the design. Bisoi later shared a photo of the tattoo on his WhatsApp status, which quickly went viral and sparked outrage online.
As the backlash intensified, social activist Subrat Kumar Mohanty filed a complaint with the police after seeing the image on Bisoi’s social media account, accusing the tattoo placement as “objectionable.”
Both Bisoi and the woman later issued public apologies. In a video statement, Bisoi expressed regret, stating, “I sincerely apologise as the tattoo was inked in our studio.” The woman, an NGO worker from Italy, also apologized, saying, “I did not want to be disrespectful. I’m a true devotee of Lord Jagannath… I made a mistake and for this, I’m very sorry.” She further pledged to remove the tattoo once it had healed.
This incident has added to a growing list of similar controversies involving foreigners allegedly disrespecting religious sentiments in Asia. In 2023, a Russian man was deported from Indonesia after a photo of him stripping on Bali’s sacred Mount Agung went viral, despite his apology. He was subsequently banned from re-entering the country for at least six months.
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