Sri Lanka to deport tourist with Buddha tattoo

London, April 22 (IANS) A female British tourist in Sri Lanka has been detained and will be deported for having a Buddha tattoo on her arm, a media report said on Tuesday.

Naomi Michelle Coleman was arrested at the Colombo international airport on Monday on arrival from India after the airport authorities saw the tattoo of the Buddha sitting on a lotus flower on her right arm, BBC reported.

The authorities found the tattoo to be an insult to Buddhism, the religion of the majority ethnic Sinhalese.

Coleman is being held at an immigration detention camp until her deportation.

Sri Lanka is highly sensitive about images of the Buddha.

Authorities take strict action against depiction of such images.