A Pakistani national, who had come to pursue a course in production from Whistling Woods International Institute in Mumbai, was beaten up at a Malad mall last week for sporting a tattoo in Urdu on her back. The incident scared the girl so much that she left for Pakistan on Friday.
Saba Najam, 22, was roughed up at Hypercity Mall in Malad last Monday after some people spotted a tattoo in Urdu on her back. The incident took place at around 8.30 pm when Saba had gone to the washroom of the mall.
Some women suddenly approached her and assaulted her over the tattoo which read Shukr Alham Du Lillah, meaning Thank you, God.
Riyaz Ahmed Talukdar, a member of Jan Seva Sangh, a local NGO, had first spotted the tattoo on Sabas back and informed his mother, Shabana Talukdar. Riyaz said, When I saw the tattoo I was furious as holy words from the Quran were on her back. Shabana, along with a few other women, then came to the mall in the next 15 minutes and confronted Saba in the washroom.
They slapped the girl several times before the mall management intervened.
Since both the parties concerned are our patrons we simply referred the matter to the police, said Manvir Singh, spokesperson of Hypercity Mall.
The group, along with Saba, were taken to the Bangur Nagar police station.
According to Bangur Nagar police, Saba apologised profusely and said she hadnt known that the tattoo would hurt anybodys sentiments.
Danaji Nalavde, inspector in-charge of crime at the police station, said, There was nothing objectionable about the tattoo and there are no legal provisions under which we could have booked her. But since the group of people were agitated we asked Saba to give her statement in writing.
In her statement Saba said she was sorry and that she would get the tattoo removed through laser surgery in the next three days. Nevertheless, the cops referred the matter to legal experts to see if they could book Saba for hurting religious sentiments or under any other legal provision.
On Friday night, however, Saba left for Lahore. Ravi Gupta, executive director of Whistling Woods told Mumbai Mirror that Saba seemed extremely disturbed after the incident.
We had spoken to the cops who assured us that there was no case against her. We told her there was nothing to worry about but she was too scared, he said.
Saba hails from Lahore in Pakistan and had come to Mumbai in 2007 on a student visa. She joined Whistling Woods in 2008.
She got the tattoo done from a tattoo parlour in Bandra in February 2008.
Saba was unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, Riyaz says he is happy Saba has left the country.
Comment : I sincerely apologise to Ms. Saba, for the behaviour of my fellow citizens.Hope she will comeback and continue her studies.
Posted On Monday, January 19, 2009 at 02:52:24 AM Indiatimes
Saba Najam, 22, was roughed up at Hypercity Mall in Malad last Monday after some people spotted a tattoo in Urdu on her back. The incident took place at around 8.30 pm when Saba had gone to the washroom of the mall.
Some women suddenly approached her and assaulted her over the tattoo which read Shukr Alham Du Lillah, meaning Thank you, God.
Riyaz Ahmed Talukdar, a member of Jan Seva Sangh, a local NGO, had first spotted the tattoo on Sabas back and informed his mother, Shabana Talukdar. Riyaz said, When I saw the tattoo I was furious as holy words from the Quran were on her back. Shabana, along with a few other women, then came to the mall in the next 15 minutes and confronted Saba in the washroom.
They slapped the girl several times before the mall management intervened.
Since both the parties concerned are our patrons we simply referred the matter to the police, said Manvir Singh, spokesperson of Hypercity Mall.
The group, along with Saba, were taken to the Bangur Nagar police station.
According to Bangur Nagar police, Saba apologised profusely and said she hadnt known that the tattoo would hurt anybodys sentiments.
Danaji Nalavde, inspector in-charge of crime at the police station, said, There was nothing objectionable about the tattoo and there are no legal provisions under which we could have booked her. But since the group of people were agitated we asked Saba to give her statement in writing.
In her statement Saba said she was sorry and that she would get the tattoo removed through laser surgery in the next three days. Nevertheless, the cops referred the matter to legal experts to see if they could book Saba for hurting religious sentiments or under any other legal provision.
On Friday night, however, Saba left for Lahore. Ravi Gupta, executive director of Whistling Woods told Mumbai Mirror that Saba seemed extremely disturbed after the incident.
We had spoken to the cops who assured us that there was no case against her. We told her there was nothing to worry about but she was too scared, he said.
Saba hails from Lahore in Pakistan and had come to Mumbai in 2007 on a student visa. She joined Whistling Woods in 2008.
She got the tattoo done from a tattoo parlour in Bandra in February 2008.
Saba was unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, Riyaz says he is happy Saba has left the country.
Comment : I sincerely apologise to Ms. Saba, for the behaviour of my fellow citizens.Hope she will comeback and continue her studies.
Posted On Monday, January 19, 2009 at 02:52:24 AM Indiatimes
It seems stupid to have a shukar alhumdullilah tatoo... damn i have never seen anyone in my life do that... but some girls are real attention seekers... absolute idiots. To have someone look at their backs they can do something this stupid... lol
