A Muslim man and Hindu woman were allegedly not allowed to check-in at one of Oyo’s SilverKey hotels in Jaipur on Saturday, 5 October, because they belong to different religions, reported The Indian Express.
The 31-year-old assistant professor from Udaipur said that he reached Jaipur on Saturday morning and his friend, who was coming from Delhi, had to reach later that day.
The man told The Indian Express, “I had booked a room for two in the hotel through a travel app. I reached the hotel somewhere around 8-9 am. The receptionist then asked me about the other person who was to check in with me and I gave them my friend’s name, but to my shock I was told that ‘this is a problem. Both of you are from different religions, we can’t check you in’.”
‘Hotel Acting on Local Police’s Instructions’
Following which, the man told the hotel staff that no such rule is mentioned on the app nor on the hotel’s website. He further said that stopping somebody from checking-in on the basis of different religions, also violates the Indian Constitution.
The assistant professor said that the hotel staff claimed that they were acting on local police’s instructions.
To which, he asked them to give the same in writing but they did not agree, added the report.
Further, he complained about the same on the booking app, after which, he was refunded the booking amount, “’compensated’ him with nearly the same amount, and also booked him a room in a different hotel for free, albeit of an “inferior quality”, the report quoted the man as saying.
Also, the woman termed the incident as “shocking,” and said, “We are living in the 21st century and I don’t know why people still have this notion of dividing people on the basis of religion.” According to report, she further said that if a Sikh and a Hindu were involved, the hotel might have accepted them but the issue happened because it the incident relates to a Hindu and a Muslim
“We don’t allow couples of different religions (to stay together). It is the policy of the hotel as well as the instructions by the police.”Govardhan Singh, manager of the Jaipur hotel
Police Denies Giving Any Such Instruction
Meanwhile, Jaipur Police Commissioner Anand Shrivastava said that the police had not issued any such instructions either verbally or orally.
The hotel chain Oyo in a statement to The Indian Express, said that they have initiated a probe into the matter and apologised for the incident to have taken place. The statement further read, “We do not tolerate any form of discrimination across all our properties and take immediate strict action, which can also lead to the termination of the contract with asset owners. Any such action that is tantamount to discrimination is a serious violation of the basic principles of OYO’s work policies.”
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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