An Indian devotee who accidentally dropped his iPhone into the collection box at a Hindu temple while making a donation was told that the phone was now the deity’s property and could not be returned.

Last month, a Chennai man who was visiting Arulmigu Kandaswamy Temple in Thiruporur with his family to offer prayers, felt his iPhone slip out of his pocket and into the hundial – a metal donation box – just as he was making offerings to the temple’s patron deity. The man, referred to only as Dinesh, approached temple officials and explained the incident, demanding that his handheld be returned. To his surprise, they refused, claiming that rules did not permit them to return anything placed into the hundial, willingly or accidentally, because it is the deity’s property.

Dinesh refused to give up hope of retrieving his phone and filed a complaint with the HR and CE (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments) officials requesting to be notified when the hundial would be opened. This month, when the metal box was finally opened, he was there hoping to recover his iPhone, but temple officials stood by their decision.

“Anything deposited into the offering box, even if done unintentionally, becomes part of God’s account,” Sekar Babu, Minister of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department explained. “As per the practices and tradition at the temples, any offering made into the hundial directly goes into the account of the deity of that temple. Rules do not permit the administration to return the offerings back to the devotees.”

Dinesh was allowed to recover the data from his phone if he so wished, and Sekar Babu said that he would consult with temple officials to see if there was any way to compensate the former owner.

The incident went viral on Indian social media, sparking a heated debate around the temple’s decision. Most users found their interpretation unjustified