American banking sector giant Wells Fargo has sacked the Vice President of its Indian operation Shankar Mishra for allegedly urinating on an elderly woman on an Air India flight on November 26.
A four-member Delhi Police team on Friday afternoon landed in Mumbai in search of Mishra, but found his home locked. The Delhi Police has called the pilot and other crew members of Air India flight AI-102 from New York to Delhi in connection with the case of Mishra.
In another development, Mishra on Friday cited the woman’s WhatsApp messages to claim that she had “condoned the alleged act” and had shown no intention to file a complaint. “A settlement was made and compensation was paid to the elderly woman on November 28, 2022 but the money was returned by the woman’s daughter on December 19, 2022,” Mishra’s lawyers said in a statement.
Mishra is missing and a lookout notice or an airport alert has been put out for him.
The company in a statement on Friday said the allegations against Mishra were “deeply disturbing”. “This individual has been terminated from Well Fargo,” the firm said in a statement.
The company further said it held its employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behaviour and found these allegations deeply disturbing. “We are cooperating with law enforcement and ask that any additional inquiry be directed to them,” the statement added.
After the media reported the news of mid-air peeing incident on an Air India flight on November 26, the Delhi Police on January 5 wrote to the concerned authorities seeking a lookout circular (LOC) against Mishra.
Sources in the Delhi Police said the pilot and other crew members of the Air India flight on November 26, were called to record their statements. “The Police will establish the entire timeline of the incident and the statements of the flight staff will be recorded.”
In a statement, Mishra’s lawyers Ishanee Sharma and Akshat Bajpai claimed that Mishra paid compensation to the elderly woman after they agreed for a settlement. “The WhatsApp messages between the accused and the lady clearly show that the accused had got the clothes and bags cleaned on November 28 and the same were delivered on November 30. The lady’s persisting grievance was only with respect to the adequate compensation being paid by the Airline for which she has raised a subsequent complaint on December 20, 2022,” the statement read.
As per the statement, Mishra had paid the compensation as agreed upon between both parties on PayTM on November 28 but the money was returned by the woman’s daughter on December 19. “The accused has full faith in the judicial system of the country and will cooperate with the investigation process,” it added. Meanwhile, the elderly woman who complained about a male co-passenger urinating on her during an Air India flight in November had informed the crew that she did not want to see his face and was “stunned” when the offender was brought before her and “started crying and profusely apologising”.
She had told the crew to get him arrested by the airport police and not to bring him near her.
According to Delhi Police’s FIR against the accused, he also begged her not to lodge a complaint, saying he was a family man and did not wish his wife and child to be affected by the incident. Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Friday issued a notice to the Delhi Police over the peeing incident.
The woman alleged that despite her unwillingness, she was forced to confront the accused and negotiate with him, further disorienting her, according to the FIR registered on Wednesday based on her complaint to Air India. The woman also accused the crew of being “deeply unprofessional” and said they were not proactive in managing a “very sensitive and traumatic situation”.
“I immediately got up to notify the stewardess of what had happened. My clothes, shoes and bag were soaked in urine. The bag contained my passport, travel documents and currency. The flight staff refused to touch them, sprayed my bag and shoes with disinfectant, and took me to the bathroom and gave me a set of airline pyjamas and socks. After standing for 20 minutes, the woman was offered a small seat used by airline staff where she sat for about two hours. She was then asked to return to her own seat. When she refused, she was offered the steward’s seat for the rest of the journey, the FIR stated.
Later, the flight staff informed the woman that the offender wanted to apologise to her. In response, she said she did not wish to interact with him or see his face and wanted him to be arrested on arrival.
She added that her son-in-law sent a complaint to Air India on November 27 and the airline had agreed to reimburse the ticket. However, it has only issued a partial refund that, she said, was “hardly sufficient compensation for my traumatic experience”.