Bengaluru airport ground staff arrested for sexually harassing Korean businesswoman

Bengaluru police have arrested a 25-year-old ground staff member of Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) for allegedly sexually harassing a Korean businesswoman on the pretext of “manual frisking”.

The accused has been identified as Mohammed Affaan Ahmed, a resident of Kammanahalli in east Bengaluru, who was employed as ground staff by a private company extending ground handling and passenger services at KIA. A Bengaluru court has remanded Ahmed to judicial custody.

According to the police, the incident occurred around 10 a.m. on Monday (January 19), when the victim was returning to Korea. After completing her security check and immigration procedures, she was proceeding to board her flight when Ahmed stopped her at the departure area of Terminal 2.

“Ahmed checked her boarding pass and told her that there was an issue with her luggage. Claiming that she needed to be frisked once again separately, he took her near the men’s washroom and touched her inappropriately,” an investigator in the case told The Hindu.

The complainant told the police that Ahmed frisked her intrusively and continued to do so despite her objections. He allegedly left after saying “thank you”. Distressed by the incident, the victim approached airport authorities, who detained Ahmed and handed him over to the airport police.

The police officer quoted earlier noted that the accused had no authority to conduct a separate check but proceeded regardless. “We have reviewed the CCTV footage, which shows him taking the victim to a secluded area,” the officer said.

Ahmed has been booked under the relevant section of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) dealing with sexual harassment, and his statement has been recorded. Police said the accused reportedly did not dispute the occurrence of the incident. Investigations revealed that Ahmed had been working at KIA for the past one and a half years.