An elderly farmer from Karnataka, Fakirappa, was reportedly denied entry to GT World Mall on Magadi Main Road on Tuesday for wearing a dhoti, reported The Indian Express. The incident has caused a stir online after a video surfaced showing Fakirappa and his son, Nagaraj, pleading with the mall’s security staff.
Fakirappa, who had travelled from Haveri district to Bengaluru to visit his son, was stopped at the entrance despite having movie tickets. The security staff told him that men wearing dhotis were not allowed inside the mall.
Nagaraj recounted the experience saying, “We arrived at the mall around 6 pm to watch a movie. The security staff said my father couldn’t enter because he was wearing a dhoti. We tried to reason with them for 30 minutes, but they wouldn’t let us in. It was only after we called our friends and the media arrived that they allowed us to enter, just as we were about to leave.”
The security supervisor justified the refusal, stating that not only dhotis but also women wearing nighties were not permitted in the mall.
Fakirappa expressed his disappointment, saying, “I am a farmer and travelled a long distance to see my son. I had never faced such discrimination before.”
Here’s a look at the video that’s gone viral on social media:
ಪಂಚೆ ಹುಟ್ಕೊಂಡು ರೈತರು ಮಾಲ್ ಗೆ
ಸಿನಿಮಾ ನೋಡಲು ಬರ್ಬಾರ್ದ? | GT Mall?#Bengaluru #gtmall #gtworldmall pic.twitter.com/wecmhtLv1e— Nagabharana Gubbi (@nagabharangubbi) July 16, 2024
Responding to the incident, several people slammed the security personnel for their discriminatory behavior. One user wrote, “This is not acceptable from GT Mall security.” Another user wrote, “Increasingly ‘western’ is equated with ‘Modern’ – this is ridiculous – the mall should apologize and remember it’s based out of India.”
In response to the backlash, Prashanth, the head of mall security, issued an apology and assured that such incidents would not happen again.
What are your views regarding this incident?