Police handcuff woman over 'skimpy' bikini in shock beach video

A woman has left onlookers gobsmacked after she shared footage of herself being handcuffed for wearing a skimpy bikini to the beach.

US gymnast Sam Panda was soaking up some rays at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina in the USA when another woman called the police over her G-string bikini bottom.

Gymnast handcuffed by police in bikini row
Gymnast Sam Pana was gobsmacked after police handcuffed her while issuing a warning over her G-String bikini. Photo: Supplied

Police later told Fox News that the report initially made stated two women in see-through tops and string bikini bottoms were“dancing and soliciting videos on the beach” and that Sam Panda was detained after she started to walk away while the police issued a warning.

The popular holiday destination famously has laws in place against the exposure of specific anatomy including the ‘buttocks’.

“It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally appear in any public place in such a state of dress or undress so as to expose to the view of others the human male or female genitals, pubic area, pubic hair, buttocks, anus, vulva or any portion of the female breast at or below the areola thereof,” the full ordinance states.

Video of handcuffing goes viral on Facebook

Gymnast in bikini G-String and purple top on phone while police and police cars surround her
Sam's bikini bottoms were said to violate Myrtle Beaches ordinance prohibiting public exposure of the buttocks. Photo: Supplied

Sam took to Facebook to share the full encounter with a description and video of her being ‘rushed, aggressively grabbed, manhandled, and cuffed’ as she described it.

“A woman called the cops on me because of my bikini,” she captioned the video. “That's how this all started. Some Karen decided that my body was offensive to her and showed her child that her body could one day lead to her arrest.”

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The video shows Sam being detained by two police officers, one of whom tells the camera: “she’s being detained... because of the way she’s acting right now”.

In a separate Facebook post, the gymnast went into more detail on the incident, slamming the woman who called in a complaint saying she should be ‘absolutely ashamed’ of herself.

“If you are a woman, and you decide to call the police on other women for their bodies ON A BEACH, IN FRONT OF YOUR TEENAGE DAUGHTER...” she wrote.

“You have allowed a 105-pound woman to get rushed, aggressively grabbed, manhandled, and cuffed. You allowed two women to be slut-shamed publicly on a beach for their bathing suits.”

Onlookers slam police for ‘waste of time’

Sam Panda handcuffed in purple bikini and black G-String bottoms in South Carolina Myrtle Beach
Sam was handcuffed after attempting to walk away from the officers who were called by an offended woman sharing the beach. Photo: Supplied

The video shared on Monday, August 3 has since gone viral with thousands sharing the clip and hundreds commenting their horror at the scene.

“She's wearing a bikini on the beach,” one man pointed out. “How is this a police matter?”

“This is unreal!” another wrote. “I see so many young women on the beaches with thongs. I cannot believe someone called the police and “wasted police resources” for a thong bikini.”

Image of women being policed on modesty by officer on beach 1922
Many compared the incident to this famous image of women's hems being measured in 1922. Photo: Supplied

Others simply shared famous images of women receiving warnings and having their hems measured on public beaches from the early 20th century, comparing the policing of the bikinis to the extreme modesty rules from almost a century ago.

“Glad to know we’re still policing women’s bodies in 2020,” one wrote. “This is some sad s**t.”

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