Italian woman apologises after tattoo of Lord Jagannath on her thigh causes outrage
Two men, Rockey Ranjan Bisoi, the owner of the tattoo shop, and tattoo artist Aswini Kumar Pradhan, were arrested on Monday. According to the police, the woman who got the tattoo has not been charged as she was unaware of the consequences of her actions.
A foreigner working in Odisha has issued an apology after photos of her tattoo caused outrage in the state, and police complaints were registered for hurting religious sentiments. The woman, an Italian national said to be working with an NGO in Odisha, landed in trouble after getting a tattoo of Lord Jagannath on her thigh.
The tattoo parlour in Bhubaneswar shared the woman's new tattoo on their social media accounts, resulting in widespread condemnation.
CREDIT: X
Lord Jagannath tattoo causes outrage
Several complaints were also registered against the tattoo parlour at the Sahid Nagar police station on Sunday.
"Inking Lord Jagannath's tattoo at an inappropriate place hurt our sentiments. It is an insult to all Jagannath devotees and Hindus in general. We filed the FIR demanding legal action against those involved in this incident," Subrat Mohani, one of the complainants, said.
Two arrested
Based on the complaints, two men, Rockey Ranjan Bisoi, the owner of the tattoo shop, and tattoo artist Aswini Kumar Pradhan, were arrested on Monday.
They have been booked 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.
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No action against Italian woman
According to the police, the woman who got the tattoo has not been charged as she was unaware of the consequences of her actions. Police, however, said that they would issue a warning to the woman and ask her to get the tattoo removed.
Woman issues apology
After the controversy, the Italian woman issued an apology and said she had no intention of disrespecting Lord Jagannath.
LORD JAGANNATH TATTOO ON FOREIGN WOMAN¡¯S THIGH SPARKS OUTRAGE; SHOP OWNER, WOMAN APOLOGISE.
¡ª MY Bhubaneswar (@MYBBSR) March 3, 2025
Read more @ https://t.co/QbpRGOU5Xo#MYBhubaneswar - Share and Stay Updated.#JagannathTattooControversy #RespectReligiousSentiments #LordJagannath #TattooEthics#BhubaneswarNews pic.twitter.com/aPX5HXGvn2
"I did not want to disrespect Lord Jagannath. I am a true devotee of Lord Jagannath and I go to the 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," she said.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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