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Mom Ordered to Squeeze Her Breast at Airport to Prove She Was Lactating

Mom Ordered to Squeeze Her Breast at Airport to Prove She Was Lactating

A woman from Singapore has lodged a complaint with the German police airport security ordered her to squeeze her breast to prove she was lactating. This occurred after they discovered a breast pump in her luggage at Frankfurt Airport.

Gayathiri Bose, 33, said:

“They had an incredulous tone. ‘You are breastfeeding? Then where is your baby? Your baby is in Singapore?

The mother of two told BBC, she was taken into a side room by an official and questioned about why her children, aged three and seven months, weren’t on the flight with her.

“She asked me to open up my blouse and show her my breast, she then asked how come I didn’t have anything attached to my breast, if I was lactating and expressing breast milk.

I said, there is no such thing that is [permanently] attached, we usually place the pump to our nipple and the machine does the job. She wanted me to show her by hand-expressing a little”

Bose said she complied and squeezed her breast, adding that:

“I was just in shock, I was going through the motions. I was all by myself as well, and wasn’t sure what would happen to me if they decided to make trouble for me.

It was only when I came out of the room that I began to slowly understand what had just happened. I just started to cry, I was terribly upset.”

Bose cited the incident as ‘humiliating’ and ‘traumatizing’. She said:

“When they finally cleared me of the matter, I told them that this is not the way to treat someone. I said do you know what you just did to me, you made me show my breast.

The officer just said, okay it is over now, please go.  She was totally nonchalant, she didn’t seem very remorseful or empathetic.”

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The traumatized mom who has been thinking about taking formal legal actions said:

“While I do respect the need to do security checks on items that may seem suspicious, to outrage a person’s modesty is definitely crossing the line.”

A police spokesman confirmed that Bose had been stopped for checks and her breast pump checked as a possible suspected explosive. He however denied that she had been asked to squeeze her breast by their female officer. He said:

“The federal police has been aware of the allegation since Friday. The investigation revealed that a necessary follow-up was carried out by the policewoman, who is a mother of two children herself. We deny the allegation that the passenger was asked to prove her ability to breastfeed.”

 

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