• Thursday, March 28, 2024

News

In yet another ruckus in India flight, ‘unruly’ woman passenger tied to seat

A Vistara aircraft (Photo by NOAH SEELAM / AFP) (Photo by NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

In yet another shocking incident related to the Indian aviation sector, the crew of an Indian carrier tied a woman passenger to her seat on board a flight after she allegedly misbehaved with them.

The woman, an Italian, was travelling on a Vistara flight from Abu Dhabi, UAE, to Mumbai and was arrested on Monday (30). She was later released on bail.

her lawyer slammed the allegations calling them false.

The airline said that its staff members had to restrain the woman as she continued to behave violently.

Misconduct on flights has come under intense scrutiny since a shocking incident in a New York-Delhi flight last November when a male passenger allegedly urinated on an elderly woman in the business class, causing a major outrage. Air India, the carrier, faced a massive backlash over its handling of the incident.

According to a report by India’s Times of India newspaper, Vistara staff members alleged in a police complaint that the woman passenger punched them and spat on one of their colleagues.

The complaint said that the crew member had objected after the woman left the economy class to find a seat in the business class. She was also accused of stripping and littering the aircraft.

In a statement, Visatra said the captain of the flight “issued a warning card and made a decision to restrain the customer” due to her behaviour.

Prabhakar Tripathi, the woman’s lawyer, told the BBC that the latter was not comfortable in the seat that was allotted to her and “requested to be moved to a vacant seat” which led to a disagreement. He also said the woman was allegedly not permitted to use the toilet due to turbulence.

“She was later allowed to go to the washroom but was tied up on return,” Tripathi was quoted as saying.

He also denied media reports that quoted police officers as saying that the woman was drunk.

A senior officer of Mumbai Police told media that the woman was “booked for misbehaving”. She was produced before the court after which she was allowed to go.

Related Stories

Loading