BHUBANESWAR: A tattoo depicting Lord Jagannath on an Italian woman’s thigh has sparked outrage in the city, with Saheed Nagar police arresting two men – tattoo shop owner Rockey Ranjan Bisoi (33), and tattoo artist Aswini Kumar Pradhan (25) – on Monday.
The police action comes after a complaint lodged by social activist Subrat Kumar Mohanty against the owner of the tattoo parlour, located in Saheed Nagar area. Police said no action would be pursued against the foreign national. “We will definitely question her and issue her a warning since she seems to be unaware of our religious sentiments,” assistant commissioner of police (ACP zone-V) Biswa Ranjan Senapati said.
“We have registered a case under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the shop owner and the artist and arrested them for defaming Lord Jagannath,” Senapati added.
In his complaint, Mohanty stated that the owner should have prevented the foreigner from getting the deity’s image tattooed on ‘an unsuitable body location’. “We came across the photo of the foreign woman on the social media account of the tattoo parlour’s owner. The tattoo has hurt our religious sentiments,” Mohanty said.
Both Bisoi and the woman have apologised and shared videos on their respective social media profiles, regretting their action. “I sincerely apologise as the tattoo was inked in our studio. I also seek forgiveness on behalf of the artist who created it.
The Italian national visited our shop on Saturday and insisted on having the tattoo on her thigh. She works in an NGO in Odisha. I have deleted the tattoo from our social media handle,” Bisoi said in the video on Monday, prior to his arrest.
Bisoi also stated that he had contacted the woman to request her to remove the tattoo or at least cover it. “However, she has sought 25 days as immediate removal risks infection,” he explained.
The Italian national also expressed regret in her video statement. “I never intended to be disrespectful. I am a devotee of Lord Jagannath. I made a mistake and for that, I am truly sorry,” she posted.