Patiala Court in Delhi sent him to judicial custody for 14 days, saying no police custody was required for further investigation. The accused, Shankar Mishra, was arrested on Friday night and brought to Delhi. The court on Saturday said: "What's the grounds for police custody? Just because there's public pressure, don't do this. Go by law," the court told the police and the complainant's lawyer, reported news agency PTI.
The Delhi Police had sought three days of custody. Mishra was on the run and a lookout notice or airport alert was put out to trace him. The Delhi Police has so far recorded the statements of three crew members of Air India today in connection with the case.
Mishra was booked under Indian Penal Code 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) as well as under Aircraft Rules.
Earlier, a US-based doctor, who was flying on the same Air India international flight, where a drunk man urinated on an elderly co-passenger, revealed that the Air India crew didn’t help the woman promptly and made her sit on the soiled seat for several hours.
US-based doctor Sugata Bhattacharjee, in an exclusive conversation with India Today TV Deputy Editor Sneha Mordani, said he had spoken to the accused, Mumbai-based Shankar Mishra, and upon realising that he was drunk, had requested the Air India staff not to serve him more alcohol.
Bhattacharjee, in a handwritten complaint to the airlines, had stated that the 70-year-old passenger, when she demanded a seat change, was asked to go back to her soiled seat despite four seats in the First Class being vacant.
“Her whole body was reeking of urine. She had to use the same seat, they put multiple blankets and after some time, when a crew seat was available, they gave it to her,” he told India Today.
A news report in PTI said that Bhattacharjee, in the complaint to the airlines, said he was seated on 8A (window) in the first row of business class, next to the accused Shankar Mishra who was in seat 8C.
He said shortly after the lunch was served and the lights were switched off onboard AI 102 of November 26 (JFK New York to IGIA, New Delhi), Mishra seated in a Business Class seat walked to the elderly woman's seat (9A), unzipped his pants and urinated on the elderly woman, the PTI report said. The lavatory was four rows behind his seat.
Bhattacharjee was sleeping when all of a sudden Mishra fell on him. “I initially thought he lost his balance due to a rough flight. However, as I was going to the restroom, I saw my two fellow passengers of 9A and 9C in distress," he said, adding the woman on 9A came to the gallery area, she was all wet.
“We were shocked to know that my co-passenger (8C) was so intoxicated that he went to the next row and urinated on her," he wrote.
He added that two air hostesses helped clean her up, change her clothes, and sanitized her belongings and seat.
“A senior citizen was subjected to trauma due to indecency of a passenger. She being a female had no idea how to cope with the obscenity," Bhattacharjee wrote in his letter to the airlines.
“I personally am bothered by the fact that the captain waited close to two hours before allotting her a fresh seat," he said.
He added she was made to stand for 20 minutes and offered a small seat used by airline staff as no seat was vacant in Business Class. She sat on the small seat for about two hours and was asked to return to her own seat which was still damp and reeking of urine.
When she refused, the elderly was offered the steward's seat for the rest of the journey, the complaint stated.
Negotiation against will
The elderly woman, who had also lodged a complaint, said that the crew brought the offender before her and despite her unwillingness, she was forced to confront the man and negotiate with him. Bhattacharjee said the Air India staff had violated standard operating protocol and the move was completely unjustified.
“Indecent exposure is a criminal offence. Airlines staff had no authority to mediate it. Their job is to separate the victim and the passenger and report it to the appropriate authorities,” Bhattacharjee said.
“Nobody took accountability, they decided to see if the two parties can just talk and sort it out, and end of the story. But that is just not done,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)
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