In the eyes of some detectives, a buxom woman is a natural suspect.

　　How else could a woman have such big breasts if she had not shoplifted and hidden the swag up there?

　　Such was the logic of security guards at a supermarket in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, when a plump lady set off the alarm at the store's exit earlier this week.

　　Granted, alarm bells do ring falsely now and then. When they sound, a reasonable security guard would expect two possibilities: either a customer has shoplifted, or something was wrong with the alarm system.

　　This time, the security guards at the supermarket jumped to the conclusion that the lady must be a shoplifter simply because of her ample bosom. They "escorted" her to an office and a female guard ordered her to undress. She took off her coat and even parts of her underwear. There was no evidence of theft.

　　But the supermarket did not budge. It insisted the lady display her bosom. No proof again, after the helpless lady gave in.

　　After the ordeal was over and she was proved innocent, the lady called the police. The supermarket was quick to apologize and gave her a new watch in compensation.

　　What a pity. The lady had all the reasons and legal support to take the supermarket to court and ask for a bigger compensation. She should have called the police before, not after, she was searched.

　　China's criminal procedure law and a regulation on the security of business and administrative institutions both stipulate a citizen's body is not to be searched save by police with a valid warrant.

　　The Regulation on Internal Security of Business and Administrative Institutions, which took effect last month, demands that people such as supermarket security guards should call the police to handle criminal suspects. The security guards themselves have no power to conduct a search.

　　If supermarket security guards can search who they believe is a criminal suspect, then virtually anyone can search us, be it an employee of a coffee shop, cinema or library.

　　In the Chengdu case, the supermarket guards were similar to hooligans. But the saddest thing was the lady did not fight for her rights before she was humiliated.

　　Supermarkets have been a constant violator of customers' personal rights in the past few years. It is unclear how the court would decide if a store illegally searched a customer and found evidence of shoplifting.

　　The Chengdu woman could have been a pioneer if she was braver.

　　She lost the chance to protect herself and others because of her meekness.