80-year-old woman with hip implant 'strip-searched' at Guwahati airport

Guwahati, Mar 24: An 80-year-old wheelchair-bound woman from Nagaland was on Thursday allegedly strip-searched during the security check at the airport here, while the authorities said she was asked to go through a mandatory screening as a metal plate was attached to her hip bone.

The elderly woman's daughter Dolly Kikon said that her mother who had undergone hip replacement surgery last year was on her way to Delhi from here and was accompanied by her granddaughter. After metal detectors triggered an alarm, a security woman of the CISF at Lokopriyo Gopinath International Airport allegedly asked the elderly woman to take off her clothes, including her undergarments, even after the lady repeatedly said that she had a hip implant.

Dolly 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. A spokesperson of the Guwahati airport told PTI that the passenger with reduced mobility was requested to go through the mandatory security screening but as she had a metal plate attached to her hip bone, the CISF team asked her to go for further checks.

"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," she said. "We place the safety and security of all our passengers as topmost priority", the spokesperson added. Repeated calls by PTI to the CISF commandant posted at the airport were not answered. PTI DG NN NN