Ria is Strip Searched

Clarke only handed Ria her ticket in the departures lounge. Upon finding the destination, her voice trembled, "Mumbai? What are we going to be doing there?"

"Staying with an old friend."

"At least it's meant to be a modern and vibrant city. Forward-thinking. I suppose it could have been a lot worse"

"He doesn't live in Mumbai. It's just the nearest airport."

"Oh…"

After checking in they had to go through security which seemed stricter than usual. The queue was long and slow-moving, causing people to grow impatient. The security staff included dog handlers, which made Ria nervous as back when she was a child she was bit by the family dog which then was shot by her father.

Once at the front of the queue, Ria lifted her carry-on bags onto the conveyor for the scanner. She held her breath as she watched them pass through the whirling x-ray machine.

Yet there was no need to worry and Ria's heart lifted a little as it didn't beep.

A female security agent waved Ria to come forward and collect her personals. But this meant Ria had to squeeze past a sniffer dog and its austere handler. She couldn't help but notice that both dog and handler seemed interested in her.

As Ria did her best to walk calmly past the dog, it lunged forward, pushing its snout into Ria's bottom. She screeched and panicked, standing on her toes as the dog further buried its snout.

Ria turned on her heels and slapped the dog on its snout, causing it to growl.

The handler glared at Ria as he pulled back on the barking dog's leash. "Anything to declare, madam?"

"Just a fear of dogs."

"Have you got anything concealed on your body?"

"Nothing."

"Please lift your arms for my colleague to perform a quick body search." Ria did as ordered. A second officer padded down her legs through the sari, sliding his hands right up her inner thighs, stopping just short of her sex. "Turn around." Ria did so with a sigh. The officer then padded down her butt cheeks.

“Excuse me.”

The officer ignored Ria. He slipped a bony finger past the elastic waist of her dress, plunging it deep into the crevice of her arse. Ria’s eyes widened at the sensation as she swore he was sinking it further than he should have. She wanted to run yet froze, only lifting herself onto her toes as she felt him curl his finger so the tip of his finger explored her anus.

Ria finally came to her senses and jumped around. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Part of the search, madam."

Ria wanted call him a pervert. But thought better of it. Her usual confidence had been eroded and she didn't want to make her difficult situation even worse. Still, she at least wanted a female officer instead. "I demand a female officer to complete the search. I’m not having you go near me."

"We can arrange that." The male officer waved to his female colleague to assist. The waiting public began to boo and complain about the holdup. There were muttering about it always being Indians not following the rules or Muslims always wanting to be treated differently.

Ria's search continued with a pretty blonde female officer who padded Ria's stomach, back and arms without a result. "You can go."

"Thank you. "

"You're welcome."

Feeling like she gotten justice, Ria turned towards the male officer who had carried out the initial search. "See. I have nothing to hide."

"I'm sorry about you being uncomfortable, madam. But I was just doing my job."

"You were clearly doing more than you're job."

"I just like to go the extra mile for queen and country." The male officer smiled and showed his gloved finger. "And by the way. You might want to get that bottom cleaned.”

“Excuse me?”

“You're not helping with racial stereotypes."

Ria felt mortified at the small brown smudge on the officer’s gloved finger. All her power she felt had been taken away from her, and suddenly she felt like the poor little brown girl. Or more accurately, the smelly little brown girl. She knew she hadn't been able to clean herself properly at the train station, and apologised profusely, "I'm really, really sorry. I have an upset stomach."

"I'm just glad I was wearing gloves."

There were laughs from the crowd. Ria glanced around but because most were wearing face masks due to COVID, it was impossible to tell who said what. But someone called her a smelly Paki.

In other circumstances, Ria would have seeked out the person and confronted them, but she felt she needed to escape. She also felt herself burning up as she paced to collect her scanned bags. But as she did so, a second dog once again lunged forward to sniff her backside. "What is it this time?" Although embarrassed, she felt compelled to explain herself to the handler. "Don't worry, I'm just not well, and had a little accident." She glanced over her shoulder towards the officer who had searched her. "Ask your friend over there."

"But you decided to fly? Very irresponsible in times of pandemic."

"I haven't got a virus. I just had fish curry for breakfast. I don’t think it was well cooked."

The handler sighed, "Typical Indian."

The senior officer had been watching events with keen interest and decided he had seen enough. He radioed the dog handler. "Bring her in, Jack. Something smells here, and it’s not just her arse. After all, the dogs aren't stupid. She must be hiding something up there."

Ria heard the crackle of the conversation, and blurted out. "You can't talk to me like that "

"Madam. This way."

Ria batted away the officer's hand. "Get your hands off me." The dog began to bark. “I’m clearly being stitched up.”

"Cause a scene, madam, and we'll have you arrested."

Ria turned to face Clarke who was still in the queue. "Is this your doing, Clarke?" All she saw was his wry smile and a shrug of his shoulders as he loaded his bags onto the conveyor belt. He didn't confirm or deny but his smile suggested he was enjoying her humiliation.

~

As Ria stepped into the cold and sterile, female search room she saw what looked like a gynaecologist's chair, and declared. "As I said earlier, I have an upset stomach.. and that's what your dog can smell. I’m.. I’m obviously very embarrassed about this."

There were three male officers. The senior officer ordered. "Take off your sari and underwear." He pointed to a seat. "Then I want you to take a seat and put your legs into the stirrups."

"Sir. This is all a misunderstanding."

"The terrorist threat level is red. We need to take all precautions. Now strip and take a seat. If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about."

"I have nothing to hide." Ria felt the only thing she did have to hide was a possible skid mark in the seat of her panties… but she was hardly going to declare that. “Nothing at all. I’m a good citizen.”

"Good. As long as you cooperate, It will be all be over in five minutes… and you can go back to your spicy food and making a mess of yourself."

"Are you all racists here? Let me be clear, I have a head for figures and a photographic memory. I have made a mental note of all your badge numbers."

"That's your prerogative."

"I also insist on only female officers in attendance,"

The lead officer sighed then shouted. "Marta."

The door suddenly opened. "I'm here." It was a large fat woman with tattoos and smoking an e-cig. Her hands were already gloved. She nodded at Ria as she dunked her fingers into an open pot of lube. "Get undressed, Princess. You’re eating into my lunchtime."

The male officers left the two women in private. Yet Ria was sure they'd all be wanking behind the large mirrored window.

Ria began to carefully take off her sari piece by piece, starting with her heavily embroidered pallu scarf.

Marta took a toke from her e-cig then craned her neck backwards as she expelled the white smoke. She then shook her head as she watched Ria fold the pallu. "Get a move on Jasmin. Haven't got all day. Move it!"

"Everything?" Ria paused on the first button of her pink blouse. She saw the officer nod. Then began to unbutton the top.

~

Ria felt the cold plastic on her butt cheeks as she sat naked on the chair. She then lifted her legs into the stirrups one by one. The cold air caused her to shiver.

"Right. That's a good girl. " Marta began to restrain Ria's legs into the stirrups.

"Is that really necessary?"

"For our security, my dear. We’ve had Muslims try to detonate vaginal bombs before now.”

“What complete and utter tosh.”

“Don’t make me gag you.”

“For God’s sake. Just get on with it, so I can get out of here.”

Marta then restrained Ria's hands to the side of the table. She then stepped between Ria's legs. "Now. What do we have here?"