Shillong:
In a shocking incident, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel “strip-searched” a disabled 80-year-old woman at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati after her hip implants set off the metal detectors, on March 24.
Mhalo Kikon, who hails from Nagaland, and her granddaughter were en route to Delhi when a woman CISF official asked her to “strip” during the security check in the airport.
Later, the octogenarian’s daughter, Dolly Kikon, took to a popular micro-blogging website to apprise the CISF and chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma about the alleged misbehaviour.
“My 80-year-old disabled mom was made to strip at the CISF security check at Guwahati airport. The security personnel wanted “proof” of her titanium hip implant and forced her to undress (sic),” she wrote.
As per reports, Mhalo had to undergo a hip replacement surgery last year and since, has been wheelchair-bound. “Mhalo has had the hip implant for more than 15 years but she has never been put in this kind of embarrassing situation ever before,” Dolly further wrote in the micro-blogging website.
When contacted, the CISF officials refused to speak to The Meghalayan, saying that the CISF commandant is on leave.
However, the official spokesperson of Adani Guwahati airport Ltd (AGAL), Ruma Devi Keot, said, “A passenger with reduced mobility aged about 80 years travelling from Guwahati to Delhi was requested to go through mandatory security screening. Since the passenger had a metal plate placed in her hipbone, it led to the CISF team further requesting for checking.”
“The passenger was politely explained on the mandatory security protocol. At LGBI Airport, the operator will be watchful to ensure such that similar incident never gets repeated,” she added.