Man who urinated on 71-year-old woman in Air India flight from New York out on bail
Shankar Mishra, who was accused of urinating on an elderly woman during an Air India flight from New York to New Delhi, has been granted bail.
The bail was set at $1,222 (INR 100,000) and granted by the Patiala House Court, the Times of India reported on Tuesday.
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Mishra was sent to judicial custody on January 6, over a month after the incident in November 2022.
He was kept in custody till the investigation was concluded, then he was granted bail.
The offence carries a penalty of five years in prison. Mishra has already been held in custody for one month.
Additional sessions judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla who approved the bail request reportedly said: “Further, there is no report, at least, that the accused tried to threaten or intimidate the witnesses or the victim at any stage.”
“Although, there is a claim that accused has apologized to the victim in the flight and that subsequently he transferred some money in her account, which was later on returned, simultaneously, is no unequivocal claim that he has been trying to harass the victim after the incident,” the Hindustan Times reported.
Mishra is now under order to cooperate with the investigation, not allowed to contact witnesses of the incident, and is barred from traveling abroad without permission, the same report said.
The 34-year-old accused was missing for six weeks after Delhi police registered an official complaint, First Information Report (FIR), against Mishra after the victim filed an official grievance with the authorities on January 4.
The incident occurred on a November 26 flight from JFK, New York to New Delhi, when Mishra was accused of urinating on a 71-year-old woman in the business class section while intoxiated.
The former Wells Fargo employee claimed that the woman urinated on herself with his lawyer saying: “He did not urinate on the complainant. The complainant woman’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 percent of kathak dancers have this issue.”
India’s civil aviation regulator fined Air India Ltd. $37,000 and suspended a pilot’s license for three months for not following the correct reporting procedures.
Since the incident, which happened last year but only came to light in January, Air India has started a program to strengthen its crews’ handling of unruly passengers and is reviewing its policy around alcohol service on flights.
Read more:
Man arrested after urinating on 71-year-old passenger on Air India flight from JFK
Man arrested for urinating on Air India passenger from JFK says woman peed on herself
Air India fined $37,000, pilot suspended after passenger urination scandal
