A British tourist is facing deportation from Sri Lanka after authorities complained a tattoo of Buddha on her arm hurts people's "religious feelings".
Naomi Michelle Coleman, 37, was arrested at Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport after flying in from India.
She was taken into custody after police spotted the tattoo showing a Buddha perched on lotus flower on her right arm.
A police spokesman explained she was arrested for "hurting others' religious feelings".
Coleman then appeared before a magistrate who ordered her deportation.
Buddhism is the religion of the country's majority ethnic Sinhalese and Buddhist tattoos are seen as culturally insensitive.
The spokesman said she is currently being held at an immigration detention centre until deportation and said she would be removed "very soon - it could be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow".
In 2011, Thailand's Culture Ministry said foreign tourists in Sri Lanka should be barred from getting tattoos of Buddha during their holidays because the practice was culturally insensitive.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed they were dealing with the case of a detained British national.
She said: "We are aware of the detention of a British national in Sri Lanka on April 21. We are providing consular assistance."
Additional reporting by PA
