Spanish Tourist to Leave Myanmar for Having Buddha Tattoo on His Leg

A couple look at a mobile device while other visitors and tourists sit in Maha Bandoola Garden as Yangon City Hall stands in the background, in Yangon, Myanmar, on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party assumed control of the nation’s parliament earlier this month as more than half a century of military rule in the country comes to an end.

A Spanish tourist was escorted out of the ancient city of Bagan for having an exposed Buddha tattoo on his leg in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, a report said on Monday.

Officials put the Cesar Hernandez and his wife on a bus to Yangon on Sunday, an official from Township Administration Office said.

“Some people took photos of his tattoo and informed the police about it. For their safety, the police advised them to leave Bagan,” deputy officer Kyaw Thu Win told newsmen.

Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture Aung San Win said the couple would be advised to leave the country.

“We have no reason to deport them. We’ll just ask them to take care for their safety because some people would view the tattoo on his leg as an insult to the religion,” the minister said.

A Canadian professor was forced to leave the country in 2014 after Buddha tattoos on his leg caused a public outcry.

Photo Credit: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg/Getty Images