The elderly woman, who faced a bitter experience on the New York-Delhi Air India flight after a drunk flyer urinated on her, has claimed that she was made to interact with the alleged offender by airline crew despite she telling them she did not want to see him but should be arrested on his arrival at airport.
In her complaint, which is part of the FIR registered by Delhi Police, the woman in her 70s has said that she was "stunned" when he was brought to her. She said that he "started crying and profusely apologising" and "begging" her not to lodge a complaint against him as he is a "family man and did not want his wife and child to be affected by this incident".
Police officials said they have formed two teams to locate Shekhar Mishra, a Mumbai-based businessman against whom a Look Out Circular has also been issued in connection with the incident. One team is stationed in Bengaluru where his sister is staying as well as another in Mumbai, his place of residence.
"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. I told him that his actions were inexcusable but in the face of his pleading and begging in front of me, and my own shock and trauma, I found it difficult to insist on his arrest or to press charges against him (at that time)," the woman said.
She said the inebriated passenger in Business Class walked to her seat, unzipped his pants, urinated on her and kept standing there until the person sitting next to the woman told him to go back. He "staggered back to his seat".
She said she immediately got up to notify the stewardess of what had happened.
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"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, took me to the bathroom and gave me a set of airline pyjamas and socks. "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," she said.
She said the flight crew also told her that the pilot had "vetoed giving me a seat in first class". She refused to sit on the soiled seat for 20 minutes when she was offered a small seat used by the crew where she sat for about two hours. She was then asked to return to her own seat and when she refused, she was offered the steward's seat for the rest of the journey.
Her complaint was also an indictment of the way the crew handled the case saying they were "deeply unprofessional" and said they were "not proactive" in managing a "very sensitive and traumatic situation". Once the alleged offender was sober and told the crew that he wanted to apologise, the crew told her about it. She refused to meet him, saying "I clearly stated that I did not want to interact or see his face..."
She also told the crew that the airline should reimburse her for her clothes and shoes but they refused and put the responsibility on the passenger. They also shared the woman's number and he transferred money, which the woman returned.