The Delhi Police on Wednesday started an investigation to nab the man, who allegedly urinated and flashed himself on an elderly co-passenger on the Air India flight from New York to Delhi in November last year.
Based on a complaint by Air India, the police registered an FIR in the matter under sections 354, 509, and 510 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 23 of the Indian Aircraft Act. The incident occurred on November 26 and the man was inebriated when the flight was on its way from John F Kennedy international airport in New York to Delhi.
Taking cognisance of the matter, Air India said that it has banned the accused passenger, who is a non-Delhi resident, for 30 days. In a statement, the airlines said, "Air India has taken a very serious note of the incident, where a passenger behaved in an unacceptable and undignified manner on the New York-Delhi flight that caused extreme distress to a fellow passenger. A police complaint has already been lodged in this case and Air India is committed to assisting the law enforcement agencies as well as regulatory authorities to ensure that justice is delivered to the aggrieved passenger."
While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also launched an investigation, Air India also set up an internal panel to probe whether there were shortcomings on part of the crew in addressing and handling the situation.
The woman, who is reportedly in her seventies, wrote a letter to the chairman of the Board of Tata Sons, N Chandrasekaran, expressing her disappointment over the incident trip on flight AI102 in business class that caused her "extreme trauma".
According to a report by NDTV, the woman gave a brief description of the 'appaling' incident where she said that the man walked up to her seat shortly after lunch. The lights were switched off and she was preparing for sleep, when the intoxicated man turned up and "unzipped his pants, relieved himself, and continued to expose his private parts" to the woman. The man refused to leave until fellow passengers forced him to do so.
The female passenger in the same letter also shared that the airline refused to change her seat when asked for a change of seat, "The airline refused and informed there were no seats available”. She also complained of being allotted a small seat used by the airline staff, by one of the senior stewardesses.
The National Commission for Women, taking cognizance of the incident in which the inebriated male passenger also flashed his private parts at the elderly woman has sought a detailed action taken report in the matter within seven days from the Delhi Police Commissioner.
