‘Club must apologise to Khasi woman’

New Delhi: A woman from Meghalaya left the Delhi Golf Club after a staffer objected to her presence because he assumed she was a domestic help, an internal inquiry has found.

It said there was no objection to her traditional Khasi outfit “jainsem,” as claimed by the woman’s employer. The three-member inquiry committee headed by Justice (retired) Mukul  Mudgal has submitted its report, nearly two months after the June 25 incident, which drew widespread criticism.

It recommended that the club issue an apology to Tailin Lyngdoh,  who was accompanying her employer Nivedita Borthakur Sondhi. According to the report, the club staffer concerned had not asked  Lyngdoh to leave or said anything about her attire, and that the host member herself asked everyone to get up and leave to avoid any further unpleasantness.

The committee said the incident arose on account of the fact that the desk staff “assumed Lyngdoh to be a domestic employee”. Domestic employees “are not allowed in the dining hall as per rules”. “When questioned by the committee, the staff member admitted to  having gone to the table and informed the member that domestic employees  are not allowed. According to him, all he said was ‘Ma’am maid is  not allowed —I’m only telling you the rule’,” the report said.

The report states that the exchange was apparently overheard by  Sondhi who became agitated. According to the committee, it was “inappropriate and insulting for the staff of the club to have directly gone to the table and told the member within audible range of the guest” that domestic employees were not allowed.