Guwahati: An 80-year-old physically disabled woman was allegedly “strip-searched” at the Guwahati airport on Thursday after her hip implant triggered off metal detectors during the security check.
According to reports, the incident took place at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) airport in Guwahati when a wheerchair-bound woman from Nagaland, Mhalo Kikon, who underwent a hip replacement surgery last year, was forced to undress by the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) during security check at the airport, news agency PTI reported.
The elderly woman's daughter Dolly Kikon told PTI that her mother was on her way to Delhi from Guwahati and was accompanied by her granddaughter.
After metal detectors triggered an alarm, a security woman of the CISF at the airport asked the elderly woman to take off her clothes, including her undergarments, despite the lady repeatedly saying that she had a hip implant.
After the incident came to light, CISF, on its official Twitter handle, clarified that security and dignity of needy passengers go hand in hand.
CISF officials have earlier claimed that the staff present at the duty followed the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
"The authorities politely explained to the passenger about the mandatory security protocol and the matter was sorted out. The octogenarian passenger was initially irritated but later she understood the matter and left for her destination in a happy mood," a spokesperson of the Guwahati airport told the news agency.
"We place the safety and security of all our passengers as topmost priority", the spokesperson added.
Dolly even claimed that her niece, who was accompanying the octogenarian, had filled up a complaint form but the CISF personnel took it away, claiming that it was not allowed.