New Delhi: A woman from Bengaluru has complained of sexual harassment by an immigration officer who allegedly asked her whether she slept and “partied” with other men when she was not with her husband.
The officer, Vinod Kumar, has been suspended and the home ministry has ordered an inquiry.
He allegedly asked the passenger, a mother of two, whether she drinks, and “will you be the mother of my third child” according to a complaint filed by her family on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old woman says she was traveling to Hong Kong on 18 March when she was asked inappropriate and offensive questions by the officer at Delhi’s IGI airport.
The woman told media today that Vinod Kumar made “verbal sexual advances” and then followed her even after stamping her passport.
“He chased me on the travellator and asked, do you drink, smoke, do you eat chicken, do you have fun with other men. Did you have surgery to avoid another child? I was really shocked and didn’t know what to say. He asked are you going to meet your husband or another man? When I took out my phone and started talking to a friend, he instantly left,” she said.
The woman says after she returned from Hong Kong with her husband, they complained to a senior officer at the Delhi airport, but all they received was an apology and the officer continued at his post.
The woman’s father-in-law then pushed to have a complaint accepted by the government’s Bureau of Immigration, which is under the home ministry.
