Air India 'pee-gate' case: Elderly woman hits back on 'urinated on herself' claim

The elderly woman, who claimed her co-passenger urinated on her on an Air India flight from New York to New Delhi, has hit back at Shankar Mishra, the accused, for making false allegations and "adopting a campaign of spreading misinformation" against her. The victim’s lawyer issued a statement on Friday negating the claims that she urinated on herself after Mishra’s advocate told the court that she relieved on her own seat due to a problem that many kathak dancers have. 

Mishra, who was on a New York-Delhi Air India flight on November 26, allegedly unzipped his pants and urinated on an elderly woman, in her 70s, in business class. He later said that he had apologised to the woman and begged her not to report the case to the police, saying it would impact his wife and child.   

The matter came to light when the passenger expressed her displeasure in a letter to Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekharan, accusing the Air India cabin crew of showing extreme insensitivity to the circumstance. 

Mishra was arrested last week from Bangalore by the Delhi Police for his indecent behaviour. On Friday, his lawyer told a bench of Patiala House Court that the elderly woman urinated on her own seat due to her health conditions. Mishra’s counsel told a Delhi sessions court on Friday that: "The complainant's seat was blocked. It wasn’t possible for him (Mishra) to go there. The woman has a problem of incontinence. She urinated on herself. She is a Kathak dancer, 80 per cent of Kathak dancers have this issue." 

In her reply, the woman said: "It has been brought to our knowledge that certain scurrilous and defamatory allegations have been made on behalf of the accused in the captioned matter before the Ld. ASJ, Patiala House Courts today. Needless to state, the allegations are completely false and concocted and, by their very nature, are disparaging and derogatory." 

"...the accused, instead of being remorseful for the utterly disgusting act committed by him, has adopted a campaign of spreading misinformation and falsities with the intent of further harassing the victim," the statement read. 

The case so far 

After the incident came to light last week, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) even issued a show-cause notice to Air India and claimed their handling of the incident was 'unprofessional'.  

On Saturday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson issued a statement and said that the airline has issued a show-cause notice to four cabin crew and a pilot in the case where a passenger urinated on a fellow elderly woman on a flight from New York in November. Wilson, while apologising for the unfortunate event, said the 5 employees have been de-rostered for further investigation. The airline said that it is also reviewing its policy of serving alcohol on flights. 

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran on Sunday said that the airline's response should have been swifter and it could have handled the incident better.