Mother objects to cavity search of two daughters

A distressed mother is convinced that the search of her two daughters by Customs officials at the airport has to be the work of the devil.{{more}}

Diana Matthews of Layou, a newly baptized Christian, says that she thinks that the search of her daughters Danille and Nekeisha has to be a way of testing her in her new Christian life.

According to her daughters, Danille, 16, and Nekeisha, 21, they were among a party of three arriving at the E.T. Joshua Airport around 8:35 pm on Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Danille, Nekeisha and a male friend were returning from a trip to the Dominican Republic, and had taken a connecting flight from Antigua to St. Vincent.

It was, however, here in St. Vincent that they claimed they encountered problems. After their luggage was searched, their male companion was told to wait, while Danille and Nekeisha were told that a routine search had to be done on them.

“They (The Customs officer) said a police going to do a regular search. I said for what?… We didn’t get any explanation,” Nekeisha related. Her sister was then taken to a bathroom, accompanied by a female Customs officer, where she was told to take off all her clothes. “She told me I have to strip first and then I must go up on the toilet seat and squat…. Then she looked up under me and dey laughing, laughing like it was a joke,” Danille said.

While outside, Nekeisha further inquired why the search had to be done: “When I asked the police for an explanation, he said I making things worse,” she said. She was then asked to follow the same procedure as her sister and was even interrupted by another female officer. “She saying she want to use the bathroom and when she finished she was standing looking in the mirror and smiling,” Nekeisha related.

Nekeisha and Danille, who have traveled abroad before, said that is was the first time they were ever searched in that manner. However, they want justice to be done, as they think that no one should have to go through what they went through. “You have to take a step because they will do the same thing to other people,” Danille said.

Relating her distress, their mother Diana said that upon hearing the news, it raised her blood pressure. Matthews’ attempts to get information from Customs also proved futile. “I went to the door at Customs and they refuse to open the door for me. One of the man came and said he will be back in three minutes and he never came back,” she said.

Matthews, however, added that she thinks she is being tested. “All the time I living in sin this never happen to me. Now I decide to take the Lord as my personal saviour look at the time they coming to disgrace my family,” she said.

When Searchlight contacted the Customs Department at press time on Wednesday, we were told the person responsible was not available to comment as he was in a management meeting. (OS)