Australian Matt Gordon is surrounded by a group of Indians after he was spotted with a tattoo of Hindu goddess Yellamma on his shin. Courtesy The Hindu

Australian Matt Gordon is surrounded by a group of Indians after he was spotted with a tattoo of Hindu goddess Yellamma on his shin. Courtesy The Hindu

AN Aussie man and his girlfriend were taken to a police station in India, after activists threaten to ‘skin’ him for having a tattoo of a Hindu goddess on his leg.

A crowd gathered around Matt Gordon, 21, and his girlfriend Emily Kassianou, 20, from Melbourne, while they were having lunch at 2pm on Saturday in Bangalore, saying the tattoo on the man’s shin offended their religion.

The men were from the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

The tattoo is of the goddess Yellamma, which Mr Gordon got tattooed on his leg. They said a tattoo of the fertility goddess on his shin offended their religious sentiments, and ordered him to remove it.

The couple and their local friend Abishek were detained by police and taken to the Ashok Nagar police station, where he was forced to write a letter of apology before they were allowed to leave.

Mr Gordon, a law student, told The Hindu: “One of them came to me and confronted me about my tattoo. Soon, they surrounded us and threatened to skin my leg and remove the tattoo.”

Bangalore deputy police commissioner Sandeep Patil said Mr Gordon told officers at the station that the men had threatened to skin his leg if he did not.

Mr Gordon later described the incident as a “traumatising situation” on Facebook, and said he did not deserve to be “victimised”.

In his Facebook post, he added a photo of the apology, saying he shouldn’t have to apologise for what is on his own skin.

His post stated: “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 where it is apparently acceptable to be harassed, threatened and mobbed. Tolerance, understanding and equality is what we live by I respect India and Hinduism completely. That’s why I spent 35 hours getting a massive Ganesha put on my back and four hours getting the Goddess of the lowest rung of Indian society (Yellamma) on the only bit of space I had left on my body. Because my spiritual journey is my decision, as are the markings on my body. I do not deserve to be victimised and have to physically defend myself and my girlfriend every day. She does not deserve sexual abuse both physical and verbal. We support equality for all, tolerance of everyone and especially for the women in this country. Please support us as we try to bring awareness to crimes of injustice.”

The apology letter Matt Gordon was forced to write by Bengaluru police @TheHindu @BloreConnect pic.twitter.com/7oCJy7wEnE — Petlee Peter (@petleepeter) October 19, 2015

At the police station, Ms. Kassianou told The Hindu: “Policemen forced Matthew to write an apology and we were made to wait for three hours till he did so.”

Australian Matt Gordon harassed in Bengaluru for tattoo of Hindu goddess, forced to write apology by cops @TheHindu pic.twitter.com/WPIuAtZzCz — Petlee Peter (@petleepeter) October 19, 2015

Footage of part of the incident was also posted on YouTube.

On Mr Gordon’s Facebook page, Ms Kassianou said they arrived in Bangalore a month ago, and were welcomed by friends until the incident occurred.

She wrote: “We had been welcomed by friends with such love and genuine interest about the couple of tattooed white kids that we are. However, whilst we have been welcomed by our peers there has been a wave of blatant racism and intolerance that has been a constant struggle. You hear horror stories about India, this is one. But, Matt and I will not be intimidated by self-styled guardians of morality. We will not sit down when there is no justice.”

She further stated the men who harassed them were members of India’s BJP right wing political party.

“This meant that Matt and I were victims of being illegally detained. Yesterday, Matt and I found ourselves sitting in Ashoknagar Police station accused of ‘intentionally spreading hatred’. We repeatedly asked to leave, but were detained, although we were told we had not violated any criminal law. Please read and share the following article — We love India but we will not be quiet in the face of injustice.”

Mr Gordon has a strong attachment to the Hindu faith after spending three years in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Police officer Sandeep Patil said on Monday that an inquiry was ordered to investigate the incident and its handling by local police.

“(We) will act against them (the activists) if they are guilty,” Patil told reporters.

Australia’s High Commission (embassy) said it was concerned about the incident and was speaking to local authorities.