Lilith
10-01-2005, 07:46 AM
(gg)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Israeli couple was fined
1,000 rupees after an Indian court found them guilty
of obscenity for kissing during their marriage
ceremony in a Hindu pilgrim town, newspapers reported
Wednesday.
The couple had decided to have a traditional Hindu
marriage while visiting Pushkar town earlier this
month in the temple-studded desert state of Rajasthan,
The Times of India reported.
But they infuriated the priest as they started to kiss
and embrace while he was chanting vedic hymns.
The priest, along with other Hindu holy men,
complained to police, who filed charges against the
couple. The court in Pushkar gave its verdict Tuesday.
The Asian Age newspaper said Hindu priests were
outraged.
"We will not tolerate any cultural pollution of this
sort," Ladoo Ram Sharma, president of an organization
of Hindu priests in Pushkar, was quoted as saying.
Pushkar has a famous temple dedicated to Brahma -- the
Hindu god of creation -- and is popular with foreign
tourists who come for its desert ambience, camel
safaris and annual camel fair.
India has tough obscenity laws and kissing in public
is frowned upon in the largely conservative country.
Last October, local residents in the western state
complained to authorities that a group of Israeli
women had danced naked near Pushkar.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Israeli couple was fined
1,000 rupees after an Indian court found them guilty
of obscenity for kissing during their marriage
ceremony in a Hindu pilgrim town, newspapers reported
Wednesday.
The couple had decided to have a traditional Hindu
marriage while visiting Pushkar town earlier this
month in the temple-studded desert state of Rajasthan,
The Times of India reported.
But they infuriated the priest as they started to kiss
and embrace while he was chanting vedic hymns.
The priest, along with other Hindu holy men,
complained to police, who filed charges against the
couple. The court in Pushkar gave its verdict Tuesday.
The Asian Age newspaper said Hindu priests were
outraged.
"We will not tolerate any cultural pollution of this
sort," Ladoo Ram Sharma, president of an organization
of Hindu priests in Pushkar, was quoted as saying.
Pushkar has a famous temple dedicated to Brahma -- the
Hindu god of creation -- and is popular with foreign
tourists who come for its desert ambience, camel
safaris and annual camel fair.
India has tough obscenity laws and kissing in public
is frowned upon in the largely conservative country.
Last October, local residents in the western state
complained to authorities that a group of Israeli
women had danced naked near Pushkar.