Bengaluru Airport Staffer Arrested for Alleged Sexual Harassment of South Korean Woman

Bengaluru

oi-Madhuri Adnal

A
Kempegowda
International
Airport
(KIA) staffer
has
been
arrested
for
allegedly
sexually
harassing
a
South
Korean
woman
on
Monday
(January
19).
The
accused,
Affaann
Ahmed,
allegedly
lured the
passenger
under
the
pretext
of
a
regular
security
check
and
molested
her
in
a
men’s
toilet,
officials
said.

On
receiving
the
complaint,
security
personnel
at
the
airport acted
with
immediacy
and
handed
him
over
to
Kempegowda
Airport
Police.
A
case
has
been registered
under
section
75
of
the
Bharatiya
Nyaya
Sanhita
(BNS)
–
SDP*
which
deals
with
sexual
harassment.
If
he
did,
forensic
evidence
or
security
camera
footage might
support
the
survivor’s
account.

Bogus
‘inspection’
raised
alarm

Police
said
the
woman was
at
the
airport
to
catch
her
return
flight
when
Ahmed,
who
was
on
duty
for
checking
tickets,
insisted
that
there
were
beeps
coming
from
her
bag.
With
this
as
the
pretext, he
demanded
a
separate
security
check.

And
instead
of
bringing
her
to
a
designated
frisking
area,
Ahmed
brought
her
into
a
men’s
bathroom
- an
extremely
unusual
and
concerning
series
of
events,
the
official
said.

While
both
were
in
the
toilet,
he
reportedly
unsolicitedly touched
her
and
forced
a
hug
on
her.
He
then is
said
to
have
walked
away
from
the
scene,
saying
“Okay,
thank
you.
Obviously,
the
woman
was
really
upset.

The
woman
told
airport
security
right
away,
and
they
grabbed
Ahmed
and
turned
him
over
to
the
airport
police.
The
security
cameras
apparently
showed
him
taking
her
to
the
bathroom
area,
which
really
makes
his
situation
bad.

The
police
said
they
arrested
him
fast
because
the
airport
people
reacted
so
quickly.

Now,
the
investigators
are
looking
into
Ahmed’s
background,
seeing
if
anyone
else
complained
about
him
before,
and
checking
if
he
might
have
done
this
to
other
people.
This
whole
thing
is
raising
questions
about
how
the
airport
handles
security,
so
officials
are
saying
they’re
going
to
look
at
how
they
do
searches
and
how
employees
are
supposed
to
act,
to
make
sure
this
doesn’t
happen
and
that
travelers,
especially
those
from
other
countries,
are
safe.