Bengaluru hotel denying room to Kerala couple has cropped up questions on secularism

Call this incident strange or shocking, a married Kerala couple on Tuesday was denied a hotel room in Bengaluru as they belonged to different religions, said a TNM report.

The receptionist at Olive Residency on Annipuram Main Road in Sudhama Nagar refused to give a room to Shafeek Subaida Hakkim and Divya DV, a married couple from Kerala, who came to Bengaluru for work.

Shafeek told that the receptionist took their identity cards and realised that he was a Muslim and his wife a Hindu while noting their names in the register. When the receptionist questioned if they were married as they followed different religions, Shafeek confirmed about the same. Yet they were not given a room and the receptionist said that 'it was unacceptable for a Muslim and a Hindu to stay together'.

When Shafeek asked as to why religion mattered when it came to booking a room, he did not get a proper reply. In fact, the receptionist kept pointing out the fact that they belonged to different religions. Despite Shafeek telling the receptionist that he would file a complaint with police about the same, he refused to comply.

"We are married for seven years and this is the first time that we are experiencing such a thing. His issue was that a Muslim guy has come with a Hindu girl," a report quoted Shafeek.

The confused receptionist, who kept repeating the fact that the couple were not from same faith, in the report said, "what if they go into the room and hang themselves... Why do we need that trouble." Also, when the staffer was asked as to why would the couple take such a step, he told TNM that since he grew up in a village, inter-faith marriages (between Hindu and Muslim) were not accepted.

The receptionist, told ANI, that there had been some problem with the luggage and ID proofs.

Further, the hotel owner said that the couple had initially asked the room for half an hour  and did not tell that they were married.