Air India urination case: Woman dismisses 'peed on herself' claim
The alleged victim in the Air India urination case, a 72-year-old woman who was reportedly peed on by a drunk co-passenger during the airline's New York-Delhi flight in November, has reacted to accused Shankar Mishra's latest claims that she had urinated on herself. The elderly woman dismissed these claims and called them "completely false and concocted," as per NDTV.
Why does this story matter?
Shankar Mishra made this claim in his response to a notice from a Delhi sessions court on the Delhi Police's application seeking his custody for interrogation. He was sent to 14-day judicial remand on January 7 by the court, which rejected the police's custody request. Notably, an FIR in the matter was filed on January 4, nearly 40 days after the November 26 incident.
What woman said on Mishra's latest claims
Reacting to the latest claims by Mishra, the victim stated, "The said allegations are also in complete contradiction and a complete volte-face of the statements and the pleaded case of the accused in his bail application." Speaking about the accused, the woman added that Mishra "adopted a campaign of spreading misinformation and falsities with the intent of further harassing" her.
Details of victim's complaint
The official complaint from the woman claimed that her intention has always been to bring about institutional changes "so that no individual has to go through the horrendous experience that the victim suffered."
Woman suffered from prostate-related disease: Mishra's advocate
Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, representing Mishra, alleged on Friday the woman was "suffering from some disease related to the prostate which several 'Kathak dancers' seem to suffer from." He claimed that the seating arrangement made it impractical for anyone to reach the victim's seat. "Her seat could only be approached from behind," alleged Gupta, adding, "The urine could not reach the seat's front area."
Accused's father sent 'karma will hit you' message: Victim
During the bail hearing of the accused, which was rejected, Mishra's lawyers didn't mention this latest claim that the victim urinated on herself. Meanwhile, the woman informed the court, "I'm regularly receiving messages threatening me. The accused's father sent me a message and said, 'karma will hit you,' and then deleted the message. They're sending me messages and deleting them. This needs to stop."
Cabin crew, pilot of Air India's New York-Delhi flight grounded
With the ongoing nationwide outrage over the incident, Air India grounded four crew members and a pilot of its November 26 New York-Delhi flight last week. A show-cause notice was also earlier issued by the airline to the flight crew after the alleged victim's complaint made headlines. Air India has also acknowledged that the incident could have been handled much better.