UK woman with Buddha tattoo wins Rs 800,000 compensation from Sri Lanka!

Naomi Coleman was detained for four days in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo in April 2014 for having a tattoo of the Buddha on her arm.

Press Trust of India, Colombo / London

Naomi Coleman shows the tattoo of the Buddha on her arm. (AFP file photo)

A British woman tourist who was deported from Sri Lanka in 2014 for having a tattoo of the Buddha on her arm won Rs 800,000 on Wednesday as compensation from the island nation’s Supreme Court over her treatment.

Naomi Coleman took legal action after being detained for four days in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo in April 2014.

Justice Anil Gooneratne with Justices Eva Wanasundera and Nalin Perera agreed with the judgement to award Coleman Rs 500,000 as compensation payable by the State and Rs 50,000 each by the two police officers who were involved in her arrest of the British national.

The apex court also awarded Rs 200,000 as costs payable by the State, Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror reported.

Sri Lankan authorities take strict action against perceived insults to Buddhism, which is the religion of the island’s majority ethnic Sinhalese.

Coleman’s lawyer, JC Weliamuna told the BBC that her deportation had been “contrary to the law governing immigration and emigration”.

A Sri Lankan police spokesman had said in 2014 that she was arrested for “hurting others’ religious feelings” after the tattoo of Buddha seated on a lotus flower was spotted on her right arm.

Speaking after her return to the UK, Coleman, who was arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, said the detention had left her “really frightened”.

“I was told I had to go to court and then I started to get really worried,” she said at the time.

Following her deportation order, she spent a night in prison in Negombo and two nights in a detention centre while security checks were carried out.

Coleman said she told police that she practised Buddhism and had attended meditation retreats and workshops in Thailand, India, Cambodia and Nepal.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/uk-woman-with-buddha-tattoo-wins-rs-800-000-compensation-from-sri-lanka/story-79noWUM0glLyvh78kmkaYN.html

A BRITISH woman who was kicked out of Sri Lanka for having a tattoo of Buddha on her arm has won $6000 in compensation.

Naomi Coleman, from Coventry, in the UK, was held for four days in April 2014 before being deported from the Sri Lanka during her holiday.

The mental health nurse took legal action against the Sri Lankan authorities after her unceremonious return to Britain.

The Sun reports a court has now ruled there was “no legal basis” for her arrest and admitted she had been subject to “degrading treatment” by some officers and a prison guard.

British tourist Naomi Coleman was deported from Sri Lanka due to this tattoo of the Buddha on her upper arm. Picture: AFP/Lakruwan WanniarachchiSource:AFP

Ads by Kiosked

One jail guard “made several lewd, obscene and disparaging remarks of a sexually-explicit nature” towards Ms Coleman.

Police officers had also forced her to give them money during her tattoo ordeal.

Granting her compensation of 800,000 Sri Lankan rupees — about $6800 — the country’s Supreme Court said her treatment was “scandalous and horrifying”.

Ms Coleman told the BBC she was “overwhelmed” by the ruling.

Officers involved in her arrest were also ordered to pay her compensation.

Her lawyer JC Weliamuna said her deportation had been against immigration laws.

Ms Coleman, who was arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, said previously the detention had left her “really frightened”.

The tattoo, which depicted Buddha, was deemed offensive to locals in Sri Lanka. Picture: AFP/Lakruwan WanniarachchiSource:AFP

THIS British tourist was arrested and then booted out of Sri Lanka after locals took offence to her tattoo of Buddha.

British holiday-maker arrested in Sri Lanka over tattoo gets compo

THIS British tourist was arrested and then booted out of Sri Lanka after locals took offence to her tattoo of Buddha.

She told the BBC on Wednesday she was “shocked” and “emotional” upon hearing the news.

“Finally the court has actually seen it that I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.

After an order was made to have her deported, Ms Coleman spent a night in prison in Negombo and two nights in a detention centre while security checks were carried out.

Sri Lankan authorities take strict action against perceived insults to Buddhism, which is the religion of most of the island’s Sinhalese population.

Buddhism is accorded the “foremost place” in Sri Lanka’s constitution and about 70 per cent of the island’s 21 million people are Buddhist. But there is no law banning Buddha tattoos.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and has been republished with permission.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/british-holidaymaker-arrested-in-sri-lanka-over-tattoo-gets-compo/news-story/6ec6bef583413176815b2300e2fda9ee