Drunk passenger molests air hostess on IndiGo's Dubai-Amritsar flight: Report

In the latest in a series of incidents involving mid-air misbehavior, a drunk passenger traveling on an IndiGo flight from Dubai to Amritsar reportedly harassed an air hostess after she stopped him from disturbing other passengers. The accused passenger, identified as Rajinder Singh, was arrested soon after the plane landed at Amritsar's Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport on Saturday, PTI reported.

• The incident comes at a time when the Indian aviation sector is already under the scanner due to a slew of onboard incidents involving unruly passengers.
• Most recently, the Mumbai Police detained a foreigner last month for allegedly abusing a female crew member onboard IndiGo's Bangkok to Mumbai flight.
• Another passenger vomited and defecated on an IndiGo flight from a Guwahati-Delhi IndiGo in March.

IndiGo's Assistant Security Manager Ajay Kumar reportedly said the accused was seen consuming alcohol and disrupting other passengers on the said flight. As per the airline's First Information Report (FIR), Singh, who hails from Kotli, Jalandhar, began drinking soon after boarding the plane. He then allegedly began harassing the female crew member and even argued with her, raising his voice and creating a scene.

Singh was reportedly arrested and charged under Section 354 (assault on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Section 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A Mumbai court has sent him to judicial custody. Reportedly, the incident occurred on IndiGo flight 6E-1428, which reached Amritsar at around 3:30am on Saturday.

In March this year, an intoxicated passenger traveling on an IndiGo Delhi-Guwahati flight reportedly vomited in the aisle and defecated near the washroom. In January, another incident took place where the Mumbai Airport Police booked a passenger onboard IndiGo's Nagpur to Mumbai flight for trying to open the aircraft's emergency door. The accused tried to open the emergency door just before the landing.

On January 24, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) fined Air India Rs. 10 lakh for failing to notify two incidents of disruptive passenger conduct on a Paris-Delhi aircraft on December 6, 2022. It also fined the airlines Rs. 30 lakh and suspended the license of the pilot-in-command of the New York-Delhi flight on which a person allegedly urinated on a female co-passenger.