Indian man jailed for temple tweets freed

An Indian man who was detained for over a month after posting satirical tweets about erotic statues at a temple has been released.

Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, posted a video in September in which he makes disparaging comments about the Konark temple in the eastern state of Orissa and the people of the state.

Two locals complained he "hurt public sentiment" and he was arrested, even though he quickly clarified the posts were a joke.

His bail pleas were rejected both in the lower court as well as the Supreme Court – however, the state assembly pardoned him on Thursday 6 December.