Woman forced to prove lactation at airport

  • 31/01/2017
Gayathiri Bose
Gayathiri Bose felt humiliated and traumatised by the incident (Supplied)

A woman has described how she was "humiliated" at Frankfurt airport after police allegedly forced her to prove she was lactating by asking her to squeeze her breast. 

Singaporean woman Gayathiri Bose told the BBC she was exploring legal action after the "traumatising" experience. 

She says airport security were suspicious after discovering a breast pump in Ms Bose's carry-on bag, when she was travelling without her baby. 

"[They had] an incredulous tone. 'You are breastfeeding? Then where is your baby? Your baby is in Singapore?'," she said.

A female police officer interrogated Ms Bose in a private room, where she asked her to prove she was lactating. 

"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 breastmilk," said Ms Bose.

The officer then told Ms Bose to express into her hand to prove she was lactating. 

The shocked woman, travelling alone, complied.

"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."

A spokesperson for the German federal police unit at Frankfurt Airport told the BBC it was not a normal procedure, and it sounds unprecedented and humiliating. Police are investigating the incident. 

Newshub.