IKEA Hyderabad store accused of racism; Telangana minister calls it 'appalling'

The IKEA showroom in Hyderabad has been accused of racism after journalist Nitin Sethi tweeted that his wife, who hails from Manipur, was "singled out" and "got frisked" at the store.

"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.

"The person who checked my wife's shopping bags, even sniggered that we had bought everything, didn't even care to reply why we were singled out. 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 stated in another tweet.

In a separate post, Aikojim Sunita (Sethi's wife) 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)"
In response, IKEA "regretted" the step and called it a "mandatory billing protocol."

"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.

"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 added.

The allegation drew criticism against IKEA. KT Rama Rao, Telangana minister and chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao's son, said, "This is appalling and absolutely unacceptable IKEA India. Please ensure a proper apology is issued and more importantly educate, sensitise & train your staff to respect all your customers graciously Hope you will make amends asap."