Matthew Gordon was one month into his six-month trip through India with his girlfriend when a group of men threatened to skin him.

The reason? The tattoo of the Hindu Goddess Yellamma on his lower leg that “offended their religious sentiments”.

According to reports, the 21-year-old law student from Melbourne was confronted by the men in a restaurant in Bangaluru on Saturday.

When he walked outside, he was met by a further 25 men and a policeman.

This from the ABC:

Matthew Gordon’s tattoo. Source: Instagram/lucky13tattoomelbourne

Gordon was released only after he wrote a letter of apology which he then uploaded to his Facebook page.

Source: Facebook/mkeith21

The letter reads:

However, in the caption to the image Gordon wrote:

Gordon’s girlfriend also shared her own thoughts on the incident.

Writing on her own Facebook page, she spoke of the sexual assault she experienced while at a concert in India.

She then continued, “Yesterday, Matt and I found ourselves sitting in Ashoknagar Police station accused of ‘intentionally spreading hatred’. We repeatedly asked to leave, but were detained, although we were told we had not violated any criminal law.”

Matthew Gordon and Emily Kassianou. Source: Facebook/mkeith21

Kassianou also wrote on her Facebook post that the men who assaulted Gordon had affiliations with the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party who have ideological links with a Hindu nationalist organisation.

She noted that the men from this party are held in “high esteem” in Karnataka, with police “bending backwards to please them.”

One of the men accused told the Deccan Chronicle that they’d only asked Gordon to wear jeans and he “responded with profanity, which is why we called the police.”

This seems at odds with Gordon’s relationship with India however.

Speaking to Mamamia, employees at Lucky 13 Tattoo in Melbourne where Gordon had the tattoo done said that he only had it out of “respect and love for India.”

They continued that Matt had lived in India “for years” and also went to school there.

They noted that his “entire back is devoted to Ganesha”.

Matthew Gordon. Source: Facebook/mkeith21