Young Australian couple harassed for sporting tattoo of Hindu goddess in Bengaluru, forced to apologise

Bengaluru: In a disturbing incident, a group of people harassed an Australian couple at a restaurant in Bengaluru on Saturday. According to local media reports, they even threatened to skin the young man’s leg, for sporting a tattoo of Hindu goddess Yellamma (an Avatar of Durga) on his shin. The couple were detained by the city police, forced to apologise for ‘hurting religious sentiments’ of the people.

According to ‘The Hindu’, the incident happened around 2 pm when Matthew Gordon (21) and his girlfriend Emily Kassianou (20) from Melbourne were spotted by the group. “One of them came to me and confronted me about my tattoo. Soon, they surrounded us and threatened to skin my leg and remove the tattoo," a shaken Gordon, a law student, told The Hindu on Sunday.

The group soon called in more people and over 25 men gathered outside the eatery, not allowing the couple to leave. “A policeman arrived and said this is India and one couldn’t sport such a tattoo on the leg," Gordon recalled. Gordon, the Australian who was confronted by a group of local people at a restaurant here on Saturday for sporting a goddess tattoo on his shin, his girlfriend, Emily Kassianou (20), both from Melbourne and their local friend Abishek were taken to the Ashok Nagar police station.

The Australian couple were allegedly given a “dressing-down" and a “lesson on Hindu values" by the police personnel in front of the protesting group.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sandeep Patil said, "We have taken the matter very seriously and are looking into it. We will take action based on the inquiry report.

After the incident Mathew's girlfriend has posted on his Facebook page recounting the horror she went through during her visit to India. "There has been a wave of blatant racism and intolerance that has been a constant struggle. Two weeks ago, I was groped and sexually assaulted at a concert. Yesterday, what we originally thought would be quiet but to eat (sic) turned into a vicious assault by members of BJP Matt and I found ourselves sitting in Ashok Nagar police station accused of intentionally spreading hatred. We repeatedly asked to leave but were detained. Although we were told we had not violated any criminal law," she wrote in a Facebook post.