Morung Express News
Kohima | March 24
In an appalling incident, 80-year-old Naga woman, Mhalo Kikon was allegedly forced to strip by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) airport in Guwahati on Thursday afternoon. She was on her way to Delhi with her 25-year-old granddaughter and caregiver.
Mhalo Kikon has had a titanium plate implanted in her hip for several years now and has been travelling but never had such a humiliating experience until today. “It is disgusting! My 80-year-old disabled mother was forced to pull down her undergarment and get naked. Why? Why?” daughter of the octogenarian, Dolly Kikon had also tweeted in this regard.
Later speaking to The Morung Express, she related that her mother was in tears. “She is somebody who is so independent even with her artificial hips. She does not even allow us to make her bed and does everything possible on her own. She has that kind of self-esteem and dignity, and as a family, we admire her for that,” she stated.
Pointing out that her mother is such a delight, she said that “for disabled people, they take so much pride and joy in being independent.” She is just an example of many disabled people out there who are able to do things on their own, she added.
Dolly Kikon went on to say that, “she is a role model for all of us and to humiliate her to that extent, to strip her that way, it is a moment of shock for all of us.” “You don’t harass a disabled woman, who just managed to walk into the security booth with a walking stick. It is absolutely uncalled for. It is not just about my family and my mother but also about respecting senior citizens,” she articulated.
Further expressing that “my niece who is the caregiver was also very distressed,” she related that “she was also very shaken because my mom was shaken and crying.” When her niece filled out the complaint form, she was also harassed. “I told her over the phone to get a copy (which she was not allowed to take a photo of). I could hear a personnel shouting at her and that’s when I felt very helpless and I tweeted about it. There was no one. My mom was in distress, they treated her inhumanly”, Kikon narrated.
“I am not asking for compromising airport security,” she said but asserted that it is absolutely not the way to treat senior citizens. Her mother represents grandmothers, mothers, Naga elders, and senior citizens, she also implied.
Kikon and her husband later went to the airport to file a complaint letter in the evening and hopes for justice. “Not because it happened to my mom but it shouldn’t happen to anyone,” she put across.
CISF personnel suspended for 'strip searching'
Following the complaint letter, a PTI report stated that the CISF has suspended a woman constable after it received a complaint that an 80-yr-old wheel-chair bound woman passenger, who had undergone a hip implant, was allegedly strip-searched at the Guwahati airport during security checks on Thursday.
The paramilitary force that guards the Guwahati airport and 64 other civil airports in the country issued an official Tweet saying, “Security and dignity of needy pax (passenger) go hand in hand. CISF has already started enquiry in connection with the unfortunate incident at Guwahati airport.”
“The concerned personnel has been suspended. DIG CISF has spoken with the passenger,” it said.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also responded to the complainant over Twitter saying, he is also “looking into this,” the PTI report added.
