Shyam Mishra, the father of Shankar Mishra accused of allegedly urinating on a female co-passenger on an Air India flight from New York, said on Friday the case against his son is “false” and defended him saying he does not think he would have done the act.
In a shocking incident, Mishra allegedly urinated on his female co-passenger, a senior citizen in her seventies, in the business class of an Air India New York-Delhi flight on November 26 last year.
Shyam Mishra told reporters that the case was “totally false” and that his son hadn’t slept for 30-35 hours before his flight from New York. “He might have taken a drink on the flight and slept,” he said.
#WATCH | Air India pax urinating case of Nov 2022 | Shyam Mishra, father of accused S Mishra says, "It is a false case. I don't think he'd do it. She (victim) had demanded payment&it was made. Don't know what happened next. Perhaps there was blackmailing, there must be something" pic.twitter.com/wpu4qb1Y3G— ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2023
“After waking up, people from the airline asked him…” he said, adding he doesn’t know the details since he was not present at the aircraft at the time of the incident.
“I don’t think he would have done it. The lady was 72 years old, she is like his mother. He is a 34-year-old man. How can he do it? He is married and has an 18-year-old daughter,” he said.
He also said a “payment” was “demanded” and was given, adding perhaps the demand was deemed insufficient by the victim and therefore she got angry and reported the matter. “It is possible there was blackmailing, ego hurt or tarnishing of image by the lady… there must be something”, he said.
He defended his son who he described as “very cordial” and maintained that Shankar is unlikely of urinating on the elderly woman. He also said he doesn’t know where his son is and added that the “full facts are not out yet.”
Shortly after the interview, the Delhi Police stated it had summoned Shyam Mishra for questioning. However, the latter was not responding to the several calls by the officials, reported ANI.
Police on Wednesday registered an FIR and formed several teams to nab the accused passenger based on the complaint given by the victim to the Tata group-owned airline. According to the FIR, shortly after lunch was served and the lights were switched off on board AI 102 of November 26, the inebriated male passenger seated in Business Class seat 8A walked to the elderly woman’s seat, unzipped his pants and urinated on her.
The Delhi Police has also issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against Mishra.
Delhi Police Team in Mumbai to Nab Accused
A four-member Delhi police team on Friday afternoon landed in Mumbai in search of Mishra. Earlier today, the Police interrogated 2 people in Mumbai in connection to the case.
As per news agency ANI sources, the last location of the accused passenger was traced to Bengaluru and he is being searched using technical surveillance.
Compensation PayTMd: Shankar Mishra
Meanwhile, lawyers of Shankar Mishra issued a statement and said WhatsApp messages between him and the 70-year-old woman revealed that Mishra had paid via PayTM to get her clothes and bag cleaned. The lawyers also revealed that the accused paid a compensation as agreed between the woman and him on PayTM on November 28. However, after a month, the money was returned by her daughter on December 19.
The lady in her message has clearly condoned the alleged act and has displayed no intention to lodge a complaint. 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.
“The statements recorded before the inquiry committee by the cabin crew show that there is no eyewitness to the incident and all the statements are merely heresay (sic) evidence. The settlement reached between the parties has also been affirmed in the statements so submitted by the cabin crew,” it added.
Shankar Mishra Sacked by Wells Fargo
Shankar Mishra, who was the vice-president of the India Chapter of an American multinational financial services firm Wells Fargo was sacked as the company said that the allegations against Mishra were “deeply disturbing”. The company headquartered in California said in a statement: “Well Fargo holds employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behaviour and we find these allegations deeply disturbing. This individual has been terminated from Well Fargo. We are cooperating with law enforcement and ask that any additional inquiries be directed to them.”
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an advisory to the head of operations of all scheduled airlines including the usage of restraining devices and lodging FIRs with regard to handling unruly passengers on board. It said any non-compliance with regulations on handling unruly passengers will be dealt with strictly and invite enforcement action.
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