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A Kenyan woman has reportedly threatened to sue two police officers who allegedly forced her to undress in order to confirm her gender after they spotted she had a beard.
According to the Star newspaper, Teresiah Mumbi, who worked as a minibus tout, said she was stripped on May 15 by two unidentified female officers, who demanded to confirm whether she was a man or woman after she was arrested for a traffic offence.
"Those two female officers came and demanded that I undress and put my legs apart. After they were satisfied they let me back to the cell," Mumbi was quoted as saying.
She said that she did not like shaving as it was painful and her beard grew back over two days.
A Toku.com report said that Mumbi tried to plead with the two police officer not to humiliate her, but they were adamant they needed to confirm her gender.
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She said that the police officers had demanded a bribe of KSh400 after she had been arrested with other minibus touts for a traffic offence.
Mumbi suffers from a condition known as hypertrichosis and following the incident, she was afraid to resume work for fear of being faced with a similar situation again.
