Row Over Lord Jagannath Tattoo On Foreign Woman’s Thigh: Parlour Owner Held In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Following an outrage over a tattoo of Lord Jagannath on the thigh of a foreign woman, Saheed Nagar Police on Monday arrested two persons, including the owner of a tattoo parlour.

Those arrested have been identified as Rocky Ranjan Bisoi, owner of ‘Rocky Tattooz’, and artist Ashwini Kumar Pradhan. “During interrogation, Bisoi confessed that, one of his artists, Ashwini, had inked the tattoo on the thigh of foreigner following a request from her,” a police release said.

This followed a complaint filed by one Subrat Kumar Mohanty and his friends.

The duo have been booked under Section 299 of the BNS (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).

A photo of the woman’s tattoo went viral on social media on Sunday, triggering protests by Jagannath devotees, who accused her of hurting the religious sentiments of people in the state and outside.

Following the controversy, the owner of the tattoo shop, where she had got herself inked, tendered an apology by releasing videos on social media.

He stated that the foreign woman approached an artist at his shop requesting a tattoo of Lord Jagannath on her thigh. Though the staff advised her against it and suggested placing it on her hand instead, the woman insisted on getting it on her thigh. “I sincerely apologise for this incident. I was not present at the shop when it happened,” said Rocky.

He added the artist will either cover up or remove the tattoo after around 25 days and the woman has also agreed to visit the shop for this.

The foreign woman also expressed regret and said she never intended to be disrespectful as she herself is a devotee of Lord Jagannath.

A photo of the woman displaying the tattoo was posted on the Instagram account of the tattoo shop was also deleted following widespread criticism.