Bengaluru: AirAsia staff accused of sexually harassing woman passenger

Bengaluru, Nov 11: A 28-year-old woman, who filed a complaint against three AirAsia staff members for allegedly sexually harassing on board a flight and at Bengaluru Airport, said that they made her “feel like a terrorist.”

“They were taking pictures of my boarding pass and making me feel like a terrorist. It was around 1 am and all the passengers had de-boarded but they didn’t let me go,” she said.

On November 3, the woman was travelling from Ranchi to Bengaluru when the incident took place. She said she had complained about the unhygienic condition of the aircraft's washroom after which the Air Asia staff misbehaved with her.

"I found toilet of the aircraft dirty and complained. The cabin steward scolded and touched me inappropriately. He also threatened to deboard me. Air Asia staff at Hyderabad supported him," the victim said.

"He also threatened to kick me out of the flight. My co-passengers supported me but the AirAsia staff at Hyderabad took his side. The captain asked me if I am going to shut my mouth for the next 1-hour flight. They even humiliated me before the police," she continued.

According to the victim, the alleged staff members harassed her onboard as well as on the Bengaluru airport runway. The woman also claimed that a ground staffer at Bengaluru airport threatened her with rape.

"When I reached Bengaluru airport, one of the ground staff asked me to apologize to the Captain and cabin steward otherwise they will hand me over to the cops. Three of them were making a gang surrounding me and said you don't know who we are. We will take you outside and show you what we are. It was kind of a rape threat. I don't know who said it but I heard someone saying that we will rape you," she said.

Meanwhile, the Airline issued a statement over the issue and said they followed the standard operating procedures for disruptive passengers.

"The passenger resorted to verbal abuse against the senior cabin crew. The senior cabin crew then managed to calm the passenger down and resumed his duties. However, the passenger continued to be abusive," it said.

The incident comes days after the ground staff of IndiGo Airlines were caught on camera assaulting a senior citizen on the tarmac of Delhi Airport.