Puri, June 22: A US national and his Odia wife were allegedly assaulted by servitors in front of the Gundicha temple here today.

The couple, Noel Magee Heyden and Shilpi, both aged 30, said while a young servitor helped them climb atop the chariot of Lord Jagannath, some others misbehaved with them. Noel alleged he was pushed off the chariot apparently because he was a foreigner.

“The young man was demanding Rs 5,000 from me, but I gave him Rs 200 and he helped us get up on the Nandighosha chariot. But the older servitors standing on the decks shoved and punched me, questioning my nationality. They also manhandled my wife,” said Noel, a student of medicine based in California.

The couple have registered a complaint with the Kumbharpada police station in Puri.

Shilpi, who hails from Dhenkanal, said: “The rath yatra is the only occasion when Lord Jagannath comes out of his abode to give darshan to all his devotees, irrespective of their religion and caste. Why this restriction then? Noel has never tried to enter the temple. It seems the servitors are more interested in making money.” Shilpi has a master’s degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The couple, who got married last year, have been in Puri for the past two weeks and will fly out tomorrow. Noel said they had visited the temple town several times in the past during the festival but today was the first time that he climbed onto the chariot.

Eyewitnesses substantiated the couple’s allegations. “I was standing near the Nandighosha chariot when a group of servitors and the foreigner had a heated exchange of words. All of a sudden, the servitors starting hitting him,” said a middle-aged man.

Sources in the Jagannath temple administration said the restriction on non-Hindu devotees climbing onto the deities’ chariots existed earlier but had been relaxed in the last few years.

“That is the root of all problems. But I have never come across such incidents in the past. The servitors could have told the foreigner politely to leave the chariot. It is wrong and unfair to hit someone,” said a senior official of the temple administration.