45 women working in Kochi Special Economic Zone, all under 50 years of age, were forced to strip and were searched to check who among them was menstruating.

On 10 December, 45 women working at the Asma Rubber Private Limited in the Kochi Special Economic Zone, all under 50 years of age, were forced to strip and were searched to check who among them was menstruating.

This happened after a used sanitary napkin was found in the toilet.

According to a report in the Indian Express, police have registered a case of outraging a woman's modesty against two lady supervisors who ordered and carried out the search.

The report said that after intensive questioning did not help, the lady supervisors decided to try more embarrassing ways of finding the person responsible for the act. They strip searched 45 woman who were below 50 years of age.

Binu Mathew, marketing manager of the company, said that the video footage that they received was untouched. Speaking to Huffington Post, Mathew said that the female employees of the firm were not too happy with the supervisors and therefore this could be a ploy to get them sacked. But whatever it may be, Mathew added, police investigation will clear it out.

Kerala Women's Commission member Lissy Jose said that harassment of women at work place was not unheard of in the state. But strip searching women to check who is menstruating is taking it to a new level.

"We have asked for a full report on the incident from the police as well as from the private company," report quoted Jose as saying.