Suvarna Raj is an Indian para athlete who has represented the country in various competitions and won several medals. But the treatment meted out to her while boarding and IndiGo flight was just shocking.
She was not allowed to board as the officials said it would take too long to scan her wheelchair! And it did not end there. When she protested, they went on to say that it was not their fault that she was restricted to a wheelchair.
¡°I reached the domestic terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport at 12.45 p.m. The boarding time was 1.25 p.m. It takes just five minutes to scan the wheelchair, but here I faced a long delay,¡± said a visibly upset Suvarna while speaking to The Hindu.
¡°While other passengers boarded the plane, I was denied entry. I explained to them about how important it was for me to go. However, the officials said that it was not their fault that I¡¯m wheelchair bound. They told me my wheelchair had to be scanned and their was no time for that,¡± she added.
Suvarna won two medals in Thailand at the Para Table Tennis Open in 2013.
Sadly it is not the first time this has happened to her. On one occasion, she was allotted an upper berth in a train despite being disabled!
The officials insist that she was late and that was why she was not allowed. One can only hope that this mess is cleaned up and our athletes do not deserve to be treated like this.