Bangalore: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was strip-searched and had to undergo a body cavity search, was insulted and humiliated like a hardened drug addict or someone who was known to transport illegal drugs.
The more insulting procedure is called body cavity search. Here, the authorities conduct either a visual search or a manual internal inspection of body cavities for prohibited material (contraband), such as illegal drugs, money, jewelry, or weapons. Devyani did nothing that invited such a demeaning procedure.
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The body cavity search is far more invasive than the standard strip-search that is typically performed on individuals taken into custody, either upon police arrest or incarceration at a jail, prison, or psychiatric hospital. Often the procedure is repeated when the person leaves the institution.
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In visual body cavity search, a flashlight is used to illuminate body orifices, including nostrils, ears, mouth, navel, penis (urethra and foreskin) or vagina, and rectum. Generally, the detainee is required to manipulate these body parts so that they can be examined.
During manual body cavity searches, body orifices are probed using fingers or the entire hand. The circumstance in which these inspections may be done is often restricted. For example, they are done on individuals refusing to offer to consent to a visual body cavity search or in situations where there is strong evidence to suspect the presence of contraband.
Some human rights activists argue that body cavity searches are often done to harass and humiliate detainees rather than check the flow of contraband. Because these searches are highly invasive and greatly compromise an individual’s right of privacy, the legality of visual and manual body cavity searches is frequently contested.
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In Bell v. Wolfish, a landmark judgment in the United States, the court established a standard of reasonable grounds for performing cavity searches. Devyani does not fall in this category. Among these are security concerns at prisons.
A strip-search, on the other hand, is a practice of searching a person for weapons or other contraband suspected of being hidden on their body or inside their clothing, and not found by performing a frisk search, by requiring the person to remove some or all of his or her clothing. The search may involve an official performing an Intimate Person Search and inspecting their personal effects.
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A strip-search is more intrusive than a frisk and requires legal authority. Regulations covering strip-searches vary considerably, and may be mandatory in some situations or discretionary in others.
Acknowledgement: Wikipedia Commons
