IKEA's Hyderabad store accused of racism, Telangana minister says 'appalling'

The Ikea showroom in Hyderabad has landed in an alleged racial controversy after senior journalist Nitin Sethi tweeted that his wife, hailing from Manipur was frisked while others before were not.

Sethi further alleged that the person who checked his wife's shopping bags, even sniggered at the fact that she had bought everything and didn't even care to reply when asked about why she was singled out.

"Racist treatment at @IKEAIndia store in Hyderabad. Only my wife, from Manipur got frisked for goods she bought. No one else before us. And then all supervisory staff came to defend the racism. Great show from an 'international store'.

Cheers to another usual day," Sethi tweeted on Sunday. "And the supervisors said, yeah call police if you want, we will deal. And it didn't end there. Daily racism that our people face," he said in another tweet.

Responding to Sethi's allegation, Ikea India in a tweet said it believes that equality is a human right and condemns all forms of racism.

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"At IKEA, we believe that equality is a human right, and we condemn all forms of racism and prejudice. We regret the inconvenience caused to you while following the mandatory billing protocol," the Swedish furniture maker said.

As a process, customers who self-checkout are requested for a final check before leaving the store to ensure the billing is correct and customers do not face any problems regarding double charging, repeat scanning of products etc, Ikea further said in another tweet.

Senior Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao on Monday described the incident as "appalling" and asked IKEA to issue an apology. He also asked the international brand to educate, sensitise & train its staff to respect all customers graciously.

"This is appalling and absolutely unacceptable @IKEAIndia. Please ensure a proper apology is issued & more importantly educate, sensitise & train your staff to respect all your customers graciously. Hope you will make amends asap," Rama Rao tweeted.

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