A tattoo artist in Bhubaneswar, India, has been arrested after a woman had a tattoo of a local deity inked on her thigh, sparking outrage from Hindu groups and devotees.
Following protests, a case was filed against tattoo parlour owner Rocky Ranjan Bisoi, 33, for allegedly outraging religious sentiments. Bisoi told police that his artist, Ashwini Kumar Pradhan, 25, tattooed the Italian woman’s thigh at her request.
Bisoi had posted a photo of the woman and her tattoo on his WhatsApp status, but after the image went viral and caused backlash, he deleted it. Social activist Subrat Kumar Mohanty lodged a police complaint after seeing the image on “the social media account of Rocky Tattooz where Lord Jagannath’s tattoo was seen on her thigh, an objectionable placement.”
Both Bisoi and the woman issued video apologies. “I sincerely apologise as the tattoo was inked in our studio,” Bisoi said. The woman, an Italian NGO worker, stated, “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 promised to remove the tattoo once healed.
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There have been several incidents over the years of foreigners being accused of hurting the religious sentiments, intentionally or unintentionally, of the local people in Asian nations.
In 2023, a Russian man was deported from Indonesia after a viral photo showed him stripping atop Bali’s sacred Mount Agung. Despite apologising, he was reportedly banned from returning to the country for at least six months.
