Guwahati: Woman, returning from father's rites, stripped to 'verify' pregnancy
What's the story
In a shocking incident, a woman was stripped by staff of CISF to ensure her pregnancy at Guwahati's Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, on Sunday. The woman and her husband were returning to Delhi from Assam after completing her father's last rites. Before boarding the flight, a personnel took the woman to a room, stripped her, and pressed her belly to confirm pregnancy.
What happened
Woman's husband reveals staff grilled them over pregnancy
According to the woman's husband, Shivam Sharma they had to board Spice jet flight SG-169 flight on June 24. Sharma asked for a wheelchair for his 25-weeks pregnant wife, which the staff handed over but kept grilling them with questions. A lady officer with CISF refused to give his wife boarding pass till she showed a proof of pregnancy, which they didn't have.
Quote
"We didn't face problems while flying from Delhi to Guwahati"
"I showed her the boarding pass at Delhi airport. I work in the tourism industry, I know that no such proof is needed prior to the 28th week of pregnancy. Moreover, we did not face any problem while flying to Guwahati from Delhi," said Shivam Sharma.
Details
Lady staff pressed woman's abdomen to verify pregnancy, narrates Shivam
Shivam revealed the lady personnel whose name was Sujata took the woman to a confined room. "She took my wife to a confined room, forced her to strip and pressed her abdomen to verify the pregnancy. It could be very dangerous for the child and the mother," said Shivam. The couple was finally allowed to board the flight. Later, Shivam tweeted about the incident.
Twitter Post
Is it a crime being pregnant? Shivam asks in tweet
@CISFHQrs @narendramodi Dear CISF, please learn how to treat a pregnant woman. Yesterday, in Guwahati airport my wife was harrased by CISF staff named Sujata, she forced my wife to undress to verify pregnancy. Is it a crime being pregnant in this country? pic.twitter.com/DRYS4FVZVO
— Shivam Sarmah (@shivamsarmah) June 25, 2018
The other side
Apologizing for incident, CISF says lady personnel was a trainee
After Shivam's angry tweets, the CISF revealed their side of story. Taking cognizance of his tweet, CISF spokesperson Hemendra Singh said the officer was a trainee. He said since couple couldn't produce documents, the sub-inspector got confused. He added they will look into the matter.