JAKARTA, Indonesia — Their goals of representing Indonesia within the 2023 Miss Universe pageant turned to nightmares after they have been compelled to endure “body checks” in entrance of native organizers. Now seven contestants have filed complaints with the police, accusing the organizers of sexual harassment, their lawyer mentioned Tuesday.

During the July 29-Aug. 3 Miss Universe Indonesia contest within the capital of Jakarta - and forward of the present’s Grand Final occasion - the contestants have been informed to strip to their underwear for “body checks” for scars or cellulite, mentioned lawyer Melissa Anggraini.

The checks befell in a ballroom on the downtown Sari Pacific Hotel, the place the competition was held, with about two dozen folks current, together with males. Five of the contestants mentioned they have been then photographed topless, Anggraini mentioned.

“We have obtained some evidences, even videos showing that the organizer had carried out ‘body checks’,” she added.

One of her shoppers, 23-year-old mannequin Priskila Ribka Jelita who represented West Java province within the pageant, recounted her “body check” ordeal in an interview with The Associated Press.

“When they asked me to open my bra … I was shocked! But I couldn’t speak or refuse,” she mentioned. “When I tried to cover my breast with my hand, I was even scolded and yelled at.”

“I was totally confused, nervous and humiliated, especially when I was told to lift my left leg on the chair” for an inspection up the within of her leg, Jelita mentioned.

After information of the “body checks” leaked out, the Miss Universe Organization reduce its ties with its Indonesian franchisee. The New York-based group mentioned in an announcement late Saturday that it had determined to sever ties with PT Capella Swastika Karya, the franchisee, and its National Director Poppy Capella.

“In light of what we have learned took place at Miss Universe Indonesia, it has become clear that this franchise has not lived up to our brand standards and ethics,” the Miss Universe Organization mentioned on the social media platform X, previously often called Twitter.

The group additionally mentioned it might be cancelling this yr’s Miss Universe Malaysia because the Indonesian franchisee additionally holds the license for the neighboring nation’s pageant.

It mentioned it might make preparations for the Indonesia 2023 title holder, Fabienne Nicole Groeneveld, who gained in Jakarta, to compete within the upcoming Miss Universe pageant, to be held in El Salvador later this yr.

Groeneveld was not among the many contestants who filed a grievance.

Jelita’s mom, Maria Napitupulu, mentioned she came upon what occurred to her daughter solely after studying her daughter’s put up on Instagram, the place she recounted the ordeal.

“It’s very sad and this really hurts me,” Napitupulu mentioned, tears streaming down her cheeks.

In March, Indonesian magnificence firm PT Capella Swastika Karya took over the license for Miss Universe Indonesia from Yayasan Putri Indonesia, or YPI, an Indonesian basis that had held the license for 30 years.

Capella, a former singer and the franchisee’s supervisor, couldn't be reached for remark.

In a put up on the franchisee’s Instagram account, Capella on Saturday denied she had any information of or was in any method concerned in any “body checking” of the contestants. She additionally mentioned that she was towards each type of “violence and sexual harassment.”

In its assertion, the Miss Universe Organization mentioned no measurements of top, weight, or physique dimensions are required to hitch the pageant, and thanked the Indonesian contestants who've proven “bravery in speaking out.”

“To the women who came forward from the Indonesian pageant, we are sorry that this was your experience with our organization,” it mentioned, including that it was additionally evaluating present franchise agreements and insurance policies to forestall any such conduct from occurring once more.

Since the “body checks” information broke, controversy over the pageant has been mounting in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. The nation has a status as a tolerant, pluralist society that respects freedom of expression.

Most Muslims in Indonesia, a secular nation of 277 million folks, are average, however a small hard-line fringe has grow to be extra vocal lately.

In 2013, a number of conservative Muslim teams staged an enormous protest towards the Miss World competitors in Indonesia, prompting the organizers to maneuver the competition from Jakarta to the resort island of Bali. All of the greater than 130 contestants have been required to put on Bali’s conventional lengthy sarongs as an alternative of the bikinis which have traditionally been a logo of the competitors.

• Associated Press author Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

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