Indian activists harass Australian couple over tattoo of South Indian goddess

An angry mob in India threatened an Australian couple on Saturday after noticing one of them had a tattoo of the local Goddess Yellamma on his leg.

Matthew Gordon and his girlfriend Emily Kassianou were having lunch at a restaurant in the city of Bangalore in southern India when a group of activists started harassing them. The mob reportedly belonged to the national ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party.

One of the activists said that Gordon’s tattoo of the fertility goddess violated the religious sentiments of Indians. The group ordered Gordon to remove it or they would “skin” his leg.

Bangalore police deputy commissioner Sandeep Patil was soon called to the scene and took down the statements. Gordon, 21, told The Hindu daily newspaper that he was relieved to see a police official on the scene, but was shocked to learn that the officer was taking the group’s side.

The policeman took him to the Ashok Nagar police station where he had to stay for three hours until he gave a written apology, promising to cover the tattoo.

The police obtained a CCTV footage of the incident and said that they were considering the case seriously. Relevant steps against the activists would be taken if they were found guilty, Patil assured reporters.

Gordon updated his status on Facebook on Sunday and recalled what happened. He said that he respected Indian mythology and Hinduism completely. “My forced letter of apology that I had to write before I could leave the police station at Ashok Nagar. I should not have to apologise for what is on my skin and be put in a traumatising situation ... I respect India and Hinduism completely.”

In a separate Facebook post, Kassianou shared her experience in India and said that she was sexually assaulted at a concert two weeks ago, which she considered her Indian horror story. “Every day, I defend myself from people who are intolerant of a western women, there are people who merely stare but what is more concerning is the cacophony of insults that is thrown at me, on a daily basis,” she wrote.