Russian model Natalia Vodianova sounds ‘alarm bell’ on Facebook after autistic sister ejected from cafe
Police were later called to the scene and told the women that they were being detained for “minor hooliganism”.
Investigators opened a criminal probe on Thursday after Russian-born model Natalia Vodianova described how a cafe kicked out her autistic sister because of her disability.
Vodianova, who has been the face of Calvin Klein campaigns and modelled for Givenchy and Stella McCartney, grew up in poverty in the industrial city of Nizhny Novgorod, where her sister and mother still live.
She wrote an indignant Facebook post after her 27-year-old sister Oksana, who has autism and cerebral palsy, was ordered to leave a cafe with her carer on Tuesday, with the owner allegedly claiming they were frightening other customers.
Hours after Vodianova’s post, Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into violation of human dignity with the threat of violence, which carries a maximum jail term of five years.
It called the cafe’s alleged actions “an outrageous incident”.
The case has garnered extensive media coverage in a country where the rights of people with disabilities to equal treatment and access are still far from fully recognised.
Vodianova wrote on her Facebook page on Wednesday: “The owner of the cafe suddenly came up to them and said: ‘Get out of here, you are scaring all our customers. Go get treated and treat your child, then you can go out in the public.’”