Police arrested a passenger after a woman complained he urinated on her during a flight.
Indian police arrested an unruly air passenger after a woman’s complaint on an Air India flight from New York, who said he urinated on her.
Shankar Mishra was arrested by police in the southern city of Bengaluru and taken to the Indian capital on Saturday, New Delhi Police spokesman Suman Nalva said on Sunday.
Nalva refused to disclose what Mishra told investigators after his arrest.
The Times of India quoted Mishra as saying he was drunk and couldn’t believe what he had done.
A New Delhi court sent him to prison for 14 days as police investigated a lawsuit alleging that Mishra insulted a woman’s modesty during a New York-New Delhi flight. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison.
Sugata Bhattacharjee, another passenger on the flight, told reporters he saw Mishra drinking too much alcohol and that he spoke incoherently, repeatedly asking him the same question about his family.
So, urinating on a woman and exposing his genitals, clearly harassment, would only get the man a 30-day flight ban. Shame on you @airindiain https://t.co/Q4TtSSCLaq
– #MeTooIndia (@IndiaMeToo) January 4, 2023
On Wednesday, Air India said in a statement that it had banned a male passenger for 30 days to comply with regulations following the November 26 incident, the Tata Group-owned airline said. they reported the matter to the General Department. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s aviation safety watchdog, for further action.
However, the DGCA said on Thursday that it had sought details from the airline about the incident, but at first glance it appeared that Air India had failed to comply with the provisions regarding the handling of a passenger unruly passengers on the plane.
On Saturday, Air India gave written notice and suspended one pilot and four crew for reasons outrage incident On social media and among activists, it is not enough to ban Mishra from flying for 30 days.
Air India said the crew did not summon the police upon landing in New Delhi as they believed the two had resolved the matter themselves. Indian media reported that Air India acted after being forced by the family of the female passenger, a senior citizen, to punish Mishra.
“Air India acknowledges that it could have handled these issues better, both in the air and on the ground, and is committed to taking action,” airline CEO and CEO Campbell Wilson said in a statement. dad.
What happened on Air India with the drunk man urinating on a female passenger is sexual abuse and violation of the worst kind. Read the victim’s full account of what happened. It’s appalling that there’s no one on the ground to record the passenger complaint and track it down. pic.twitter.com/ulIILKdyTU
– barkha dutt (@BDUTT) January 5, 2023
Meanwhile, Mishra’s job as a Mumbai-based executive was terminated by his employer Wells Fargo & Company, an American multinational financial services company. , the company said in a statement Friday.
In 2017, India issued new standards banning unruly passengers from flying for a minimum period of three months to more than two years depending on the nature of the offence.
Air India reported a second incident last week, on a December 6 flight from Paris to New Delhi, in which a male passenger urinated on an empty seat and another passenger’s blanket.
Air India added that the male passenger on the Paris flight was arrested on arrival in New Delhi but was later released by federal police after he understood the victim and issued a written apology.
