A Dutch tourist was reportedly attacked in Lucknow by bystanders who thought he was gay since he was paying with a rainbow colored payments card.

In some disturbing news, a Dutch tourist was reportedly attacked in Lucknow by homophobic bystanders who thought he was gay since he was paying with a rainbow colored payments card from a Dutch company called Bunq.

While the colors on the card don’t match the rainbow flag exactly, it is well known that the flag is used as a symbol by the LGBTQ community. The report states that 8-10 men made homophobic remarks and beat him up after which he was admitted to a hospital for injuries to his face and head.

While we haven’t been able to verify this story independently, the company has released this news on their official social media and it has been reported on a Dutch news portal too. One must concede that it does not sound out of the realm of possibility considering how rampant homophobia is in India.

We received some terrible news today. One of our users was attacked in India after paying with his rainbow colored bunq card. We’d like to share our CEO Ali’s personal response with you: https://t.co/JmE1vp5J4A #SpreadLove pic.twitter.com/jS5gmzXcDJ — bunq (@bunq) August 8, 2019

It is pertinent to note that the Supreme Court of India decriminalized homosexuality in September 2018 and also asserted in its judgement relating to the right to privacy that ‘the protection of sexual orientation lies at the core of the fundamental rights… [guaranteed under the Indian Constitution]’.