Nagpur: A 32-year-old man allegedly molested a woman co-passenger on a flight from Pune to Nagpur of a private airline. The accused, identified as Feroze Shaikh, resident of Kondhwa area of Pune, was arrested following the woman’s complaint. The alleged incident took place on Monday.
The 40-year-old woman, a resident of Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, was travelling to Nagpur for the last rites of her father, the official of Sonegaon police station said, reported. She alleged that the man made unwanted advances towards her after the plane landed at the Nagpur airport.
The accused, who is an engineer by profession, was allegedly stopped by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawan who also travelling on the same plane. The jawan intervened and restrained Shaikh. He later reported the incident to police.
Based on the complaint, a case was subsequently registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code sections 354 (assaulting or using criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage her modesty), 354 (a) (sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman). Further probe into the matter is on.
Lately, Indian airlines have been facing challenge to cope with unruly passengers’ behaviour. Last month, a man onboard an IndiGo flight Mumbai to Guwahati was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a fellow passenger.
The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), country’s aviation regulator had in April issued an advisory to airlines in view of rising incidents of unruly passengers onboard flights. In the advisory, the DGCA said there are provisions under the Civil Aviation Requirement that allow an airline to take action against a passenger that behaves in an inappropriate manner.
