New Delhi: The victim of the Air India urinating incident was allegedly forced by the airline crew to negotiate with the culprit to come to a settlement with him.
According to the victim’s complaint registered with the Air Sewa, the Ministry of Civil Aviation portal that offers various flight related services including grievance redressal, she was forced to confront the accused and negotiate with him despite her unwillingness to meet him.
She was already “distraught” and the coercingfurther “disoriented” her, the victim, who is 70 years of age, wrote in her complaint.
Shortly after lunch was served and the lights were switched off on board AI 102 of November 26 (JFK New York to IGIA, New Delhi), the inebriated male passenger seated in Business Class seat 8A walked to the elderly woman’s seat (9A), unzipped his pants and urinated on her, the complainant stated.
He kept standing there until the person sitting next to the woman told him to go back, at which point he staggered back to his seat.
“I immediately got up to notify the stewardess of what had happened. My clothes, shoes and bag were soaked in urine. The bag contained my passport, travel documents and currency. The flight staff refused to touch them, sprayed my bag and shoes with disinfectant, and took me to the bathroom and gave me a set of airline pyjamas and socks”, the victim stated in the complaint.
“I asked the staff for a change of seat but was told that no other seats were available. However, another business class passenger who had witnessed my plight and was advocating for me pointed out that there were seats available in first class”, the victim stated. She was told by the stewardesses that the pilot had “vetoed” against giving her a seat in the first class.
After standing for 20 minutes, the victim was offered a small seat used by airline staff where she sat for about two hours. She was then asked to return to her own seat which was still damp and reeking of urine. When she refused, the victim was offered the steward’s seat for the rest of the journey, the complaint stated.
Later, the flight staff informed the victim that the offender wanted to apologise to her. In response, she said that she did not wish to interact with him or see his face and wanted him to be arrested on arrival.
“…However, the crew brought the offender before me against my wishes and we were made to sit opposite each other in the crew seats. I was stunned when he started crying and profusely apologising to me, begging me not to lodge a complaint against him because he is a family man and did not want his wife and child to be affected by this incident.
“In my already distraught state, I was further disoriented by being made to confront and negotiate with the perpetrator of the horrific incident in close quarters,” the complaint stated.
Air India later turned down the complainant’s demand for reimbursing her for the soiled cloths and shoes.
Air India gave her phone number to the offender for the payment but the victim returned his money. According to the complainant, Air Indiaassured her that they would carry her in a wheelchair and make sure that she had a comfortable exit.
But when the time came, the victim found no help and she had to walk to the immigration and collect the baggage herself.
Accusing the Air India of being “deeply unprofessional”, the victim said the flight crew did not show good judgment about how much alcohol should be served to a passenger. The victim also wrote that she had to advocate her case all by herself and wait for long periods of time for response from the crew.
The victim further wrote that after her son-in-law raised a complaint with Air India on November 27, the airline agreed. But to date they have issued only a partial refund, she wrote.
The victim wrote that she also mailed a complaint to Air India on November 27 and expected the airline to get in touch with her. But the carrier has kept quiet.
A case has been registered by the Delhi police under Sections 294 (obscene act in public place), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person) of the Indian Penal Code as well as under Aircraft Rules.
Air India on Wednesday had said it had imposed a 30-day flying ban on the accused passenger and set up an internal panel to probe whether there were lapses on part of the crew in addressing the situation.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, in an internal communication to employees, told airline staff to report any improper behaviour on aircraft to authorities at the earliest even if the matter appeared to have been settled.