Kamala Harris' niece slammed for tweeting image depicting aunt as Durga

Hindu groups in the United States have sought an apology from Senator Kamala Harris' niece for tweeting an image, which depicted the Democratic vice presidential nominee as Goddess Durga.

In the now deleted tweet, a screenshot of which is now being posted by users, Meena Harris says: "I am actually speechless, other than to say that the first day of Navaratri was LIT."

In the image, Kamala Harris, depicted as Goddess Durga, was seen killing US President Donald Trump -- depicted as buffalo demon ''Mahishasura''. 

The image also showed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as a lion, the ''vahana'' (vehicle) of the goddess.

"Your tweeting a caricature of the feminine divine, Maa Durga, with faces superimposed, deeply aggrieved many Hindus globally," Suhag A Shukla of the Hindu American-Foundation said in a tweet on Monday.

HAF, which represents the Hindu American community, has issued a guideline for commercial use of images relating to the religion.

Rishi Bhutada of the Hindu American Political Action Committee said the "offensive" picture was not created by Meena Harris herself. It had been circulating on WhatsApp prior to her tweet and the Biden campaign confirmed to him that the image was not created by it.

Ajay Shah, convener of American Hindus Against Defamation, said in a statement the image has offended and outraged the religious community.

"If you think you are going to win Hindu votes by mocking us, think again. This image is highly offensive and insulting to Hindus. Our Divinities are NOT cultural curios for you to mock and trivialise. And you delete without an apology?" noted author Shefali Vaidya said in a tweet.

Over the weekend, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had greeted Hindu-American community on Navratri and wished for victory of good over evil once again.

Twitter users also did not concur with the image.