IKEA staff in Hyderabad accused of racism against customer from Manipur

IKEA’s Hyderabad branch staff have been called out for alleged racist behaviour against a Manipuri customer.

Nitin Sethi, a journalist from The Reporter’s Collective took to Twitter on Sunday and spoke about the treatment his wife experienced at the store. Sethi said his wife, who hails from Manipur, was frisked and when the same was questioned, staff at IKEA allegedly came forward to defend the move.

“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. #racism. (sic)” Sethi wrote.

Sethi’s wife Sunita also took to Twitter. Quoting his tweet, she wrote: “I was one of the many who bought stuffs at @IKEAIndia Hyderabad today. but i was the only one whose purchased items were checked one by one. if this is not #racism then what is it? the senior staffs there were far from helpful. does @IKEA endorse such behavior? (sic)”

The tweets went viral on Twitter, with several people condemning the act and calling out the establishment. As of now, there has been no response from IKEA.

After facing a huge backlash Ikea responded to the customer and tweeted, “Hej, 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. 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. We remain committed to creating a better everyday life for the many people.”