Bengaluru: In the metro city ‘Bengaluru’, a Hindu-Muslim couple was denied room on Tuesday, as they both belonged to different religions. Shafeek Subaida Hakkim and Divya DV, a married couple from Kerala, had been visiting the city for some work, were refused a room at Olive Residency on Annipuram Main Road in Sudhama Nagar.
The receptionist at the hotel had refused to give them a room after he saw their ID cards, Shafeek said. “He noted the names in the register and then realised that I am a Muslim, while my wife is Hindu. He asked us if we were married as we follow different religions. When I confirmed that we were in fact married, he refused to give us a single room saying that it is not acceptable for a Muslim and a Hindu to stay together,” Shafeek told TNM.
Shafeek said that he then questioned the receptionist as to why his religion should matter for getting a room, to which receptionist did not reply properly. “The receptionist just kept saying that since I am a Muslim and Divya is a Hindu, he could not give us a room together. It was already 7 am and Divya had an interview at 2 pm. We were helpless and shocked. We could not waste any more time arguing with the man and decided to look for a room in another hotel,” Shafeek said.
Shafeek told the receptionist that he would file a police complaint and yet he did not give them a room. “We did not have time so we have not filed a complaint with the police yet.”
When TNM contacted the hotel and asked about the incident, the receptionist told, “we don’t give rooms to Muslims and Hindus who come together, because what if they go into the room and hang themselves [.] Why do we need that trouble.” When asked about why he was worried about suicide, the staffer claimed that such incidents had happened in other lodges in the city.
The receptionist also said: “I’m not saying they’ll commit suicide because they’re a Hindu-Muslim couple. But ordinarily, in villages, it doesn’t happen. I grew up in a village. There, Hindus don’t get married to Muslim women, and Muslims don’t get married to Hindu women.”
“Also they didn’t have much luggage. They just had one bag each. The man had one bag and the woman had one bag. They didn’t have any large suitcases. That’s why I got suspicious and didn’t give them a room,” he claimed.