The Air India ‘peeing’ case has taken another turn with the flight crew submitting a four-page report that suggests the complainant, a 72-year-old woman, may have been instigated by a co-passenger. The report stated that the woman’s subsequent behaviour cast a doubt about her “intent and integrity”.
According to the crew report accessed by Moneycontrol, a co-passenger, S Bhattacharjee, “potentially instigated” the complainant. He was seated on 8A, in front of the complainant (on 9A), and next to Shankar Mishra, the accused person (8C).
In its report, Moneycontrol stated that Bhattacharjee had requested an upgrade to first class on boarding, but was turned down. In addition, the report mentions that a statement of the passenger on 9C, right next to the complainant, runs contrary to the statement made by the complainant.
Sugata Bhattacharjee, a US-based doctor of audiology, had recently recounted the entire incident. He called Shankar Mishra an unruly drunk passenger, and said that he downed four glasses of single malt whisky, during lunch alone,” he said.
While Bhattacharjee was asleep when the incident occurred, he recalled what took place after. “We were in row 1 in the business class cabin. The lavatory was four rows behind. I still cannot understand the rationale… He (Mishra) woke up, went to the next row and urinated,” he said. “There was a woman in the aisle seat too, but it was the window seat woman passenger who was drenched in urine.”
“Though she was visibly distraught, the cabin crew coaxed her to speak to the man who had urinated on her,” he said. “A drunk guy is a drunk guy is a drunk guy. When you see a guy who has done a crime like this, you don’t bring him to the victim to allow him to apologise to her.”
The Sequence of Incident as Mentioned in The Report
The complainant came to the galley, said her clothes were wet because another passenger had urinated on her and that she required cleaning. She proceeded to take off her clothes in the galley itself.
She was given towels, Savlon (an antiseptic), slippers, socks, and requested to change in the toilet. The crew helped her change into the nightwear provided by the airline. The crew cleaned and sanitised her seat, the area around, her shoes, and the bags of the 9A and 9C guests.
She demanded that her shoes be dry cleaned, but was told that there wasn’t any dry-cleaning facility on board, according to the report.
She also said she wanted Air India to compensate her for her soiled belongings and was contemplating filing a police complaint. The complainant said that on landing, Bhattacharjee would arrange for a reporter to call her, said the report.
The crew, in their report, said they promised to extend all possible assistance to her and said there would be a wheelchair for her on landing.
Although she didn’t ask for her seat to be changed, she was moved from 9A and settled in 12C, given a blanket and pillows. She thanked the crew for their help and then fell asleep.
Later, the accused person met the complainant and apologised, according to the report. They worked out a compromise and he promised to get her things dry cleaned and delivered to her, and also agreed to pay a compensation of $200.
According to Moneycontrol, subsequent parts of the cabin crew report throw up instances that again contest the complainant’s version of the incident and what happened later.
1) A couple of hours before landing, the complainant said the crew hadn’t cleaned her shoes and bags properly and they hadn’t attended to her promptly. This was after she had praised the crew for all their help.
This change of stance happened immediately after she “interacted with guest 8A,” namely Bhattacharjee. Earlier, while boarding, Bhattacharjee had asked for an upgrade to first class. He was told that it was against the airline’s policy to provide in-flight upgrades.
As soon as Bhattacharjee became aware of the incident, he refused to sit next to the accused (8C) and again demanded an upgrade for himself and for the complainant. It’s pertinent to note that the complainant never asked for an upgrade herself and was already asleep in her new seat by this time.
Bhattacharjee stated, “All the allegations made in the Air India internal report are baseless, I did not ask for upgrade, I submitted a written compliant by myself to the crew before landing ( I have a copy) , and I stood for the right reasons to help a elderly lady in distress.”
2) The passenger in 9C, the seat right next to the complainant’s seat, provided a statement that contradicted what the complainant said “later on”, according to the crew report. Moneycontrol could not independently verify this statement.
3) Although the complainant was provided with a wheelchair on priority on arrival, when the crew met her in the customs hall, she complained that she wasn’t given a wheelchair on landing.
When a crew member said that she had seen the complainant sitting on a wheelchair, the complainant changed her stance and said she had left the wheelchair as she was in a hurry.
4) The complainant then alleged that the accused person had gone back on his word about the compensation. The accused person arrived on the spot and the conversation between them reflected that she was not being honest as he showed her the proof of payment, according to the crew report.
The Moneycontrol stated that Air India did not comment on the article.
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