Swaraj seeks report on woman 'strip-searched' at airport
After an Indian woman was allegedly strip-searched at Frankfurt airport in Germany, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the Indian consul general concerned. The 30-year-old Indian woman, in a Facebook post, wrote that she was asked to strip by security officers as part of 'random security checks'. She alleged that it was a case of racial profiling.
After an Indian woman was allegedly strip-searched at Frankfurt airport, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the Indian consul general concerned."Raveesh - Plz send me a report on this. @CGIFrankfurt (sic)," Swaraj tweeted to Indian consul general in Frankfurt Raveesh Kumar. A 30-year-old Indian woman, who was on her way to Iceland from Bengaluru, was asked to strip by security officers at the Frankfurt airport in Germany this week.It was only after the woman insisted that her husband, a native of Iceland, walk into the room that the security officials backed out.   "Are brown people not suspicious if we have European partners or co-travellers?" she wrote in an angry post on Facebook, describing her incident of March 29."I would like to know if it is a regular protocol to ask passengers to remove their clothing, be it their underwear, as part of 'random security checks'."Shruthi Basapa had undergone an abdominal surgery two weeks ago. Shruthi passed the full body scan, yet she was willing to go through a pat-down check. She requested them to be gentle since she had had a surgery. Even though she provided medical reports of her recent surgery, they refused to let her go. "We were travelling to Iceland from India via Frankfurt with our 4-year-old daughter when I was asked to move aside for this 'random check', no explanations offered. I was taken into a room and was asked to lift my dress/ take it off so that I could be checked to make sure I wasn't 'carrying anything under my clothes'", she wrote in her Facebook post.Shruthi alleges it was a case of racial profiling.This is not the first time something like this happened with her. But the treatment meted out to her this time was shockingly unbearable. Reacting to Shruthi's Facebook post, the Facebook account of Frankfurt airport said that such a practice wasn't part of the standard protocol, according to an NDTV report. "I am shocked to hear that. Of course it is not the standard protocol reserved for anyone. We would appreciate your detailed feedback. What happened exactly? When and where was it?" the Frankfurt Airport Team asked."I hate to play the race card here, but I was the only person pulled aside and peeking at my husband instantly changed the woman's mind about the strip search that was now a regular pat-down. I'd appreciate a response from you at the earliest," she wrote on Facebook.