JAKARTA (AFP) – More than half a dozen women competing in the Miss Universe Indonesia beauty pageant have reported organisers to police over allegations of sexual harassment, their lawyer said on Tuesday.
The complaint came after the seven finalists in the contest, held in the capital Jakarta from July 29 to August 3, were unexpectedly asked to strip for a supposed body check two days before the pageant’s crowning ceremony.
Officials from the licence holder of Miss Universe in Indonesia, PT Capella Swastika Karya, insisted they had “to examine any scars, cellulite or tattoos on their bodies”, the contestants’ lawyer Mellisa Anggraini told AFP.
“The finalists were not aware that they would be subjected to such a procedure, as it was originally planned to be a fitting,” Anggraini told AFP.
