Indian airline Air India has been fined more than $49,000 for handling an incident in which a drunk US bank teller was accused of urinating on a female passenger, Indian media reported on Friday.
• Also read: Wells Fargo fires employee accused of urinating on passengers
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On board a flight from New York to New Delhi on Nov. 26, the man who is currently being held in the case and who is denying the facts allegedly urinated on a 72-year-old woman who was seated in business class, the authorities said Media dubbing this case the “Pipigat”.
India’s civil aviation regulator has also fined Air India’s inflight services manager 300,000 rupees (about $5,000 CAD), local media reported on Friday and Saturday.
The pilot on the flight, meanwhile, had his license suspended for three months for “failing to do his duty” to ensure safety and discipline on the plane.
The banker, an Indian national named Shankar Mishra, was allowed to leave without incident after landing without receiving an immediate sanction.
The victim then complained about the situation and after the story received widespread media coverage, police arrested the man weeks later.
The American bank Wells Fargo later fired him from his position as vice president of its Indian subsidiary because of these “deeply disturbing” allegations.
Air India boss Campbell Wilson had to apologize in the face of heavy criticism.
Mr Mishra has since been denied bail. His lawyer, Ramesh Gupta, claimed during a hearing last week that the victim, an Indian classical dancer, actually urinated on himself.
According to Indian media, Mr Mishra’s lawyer also stated that it was impossible for his client to urinate on her without doing the same on another passenger nearby who “did not file a complaint”.
It is the latest incident for India’s thriving airline industry after fighting and clashes with airline employees in recent months.
Another drunk passenger was accused of urinating on a woman’s blanket on a flight from Paris to India last month, but according to multiple media outlets, nothing was done as the man apologized.
© Agence France-Presse