When the couple asked the receptionist further how did their religion matter at all, the receptionist never gave him a proper answer.(Source: Shafeek Subaida Hakim/Facebook)
Recently, a woman trying to check in at a Hyderabad hotel was denied a room because, well… she was a ‘single woman’. In what seems like an extension of bizarre prejudices against people and policies about hotel bookings, an interfaith couple from Kerala was denied a room in a Bengaluru hotel, because — they were of different religions.
According to a report by The NewsMinute, Shafeek Subaida Hakkim and Divya AV, who were in the city for some work, were refused a room at Olive Residency in Sudhama Nagar’s Annipuram Main Road. On seeing their IDs and realising that the man was a Muslim and the woman a Hindu, the receptionist refused them a room. “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,” Hakkim told them. When Hakkim asked the receptionist further how did their religion matter at all, he never gave him a proper answer.
According to the report, when the receptionist was approached by the news outfit, he accepted denying the couple a room and explained why he did so. “I have instructions from the station that if Muslims or Kannadigas come, if they don’t have an ID, they could create some trouble, so just send them away,” the receptionist had said on the telephone. The receptionist said he became suspicious because the couple did not have a lot of luggage and just carried a bag each. “We don’t gives 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,” he said. He was undeterred even when Hakkim said he will complain to the police.
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The couple eventually had to look for another hotel booking.
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