As Fortune reported yesterday, India’s aviation regulator scolded Air India this week for being “unprofessional” and “devoid of empathy” in its handling of a bizarre incident in late November, in which a male passenger allegedly urinated on a woman on a Nov. 26 departure from New York to Delhi.
The male passenger who was traveling in business class has now been identified as a vice-president at Wells Fargo. Shankar Mishra, an Indian executive, was detained by Indian police.
The bank said in a statement on late Friday that it had terminated Mishra, who worked at its subsidiary in India, and was cooperating with local law enforcement, adding in a short statement it found the incident “deeply disturbing.” Fortune Wells Fargo did not respond to my call after normal business hours.
A statement was sent to Fortune, Air India said it “acknowledges that it could have handled these matters better, both in the air and on the ground.”
Mishra is facing charges under Indian law for obscenity and sexual harassment as well as insulting a woman’s modesty. According to The Hindu, a Delhi court sent him to 14-day judicial custody.
Tata Group’s Air India said that Mishra was banned from its flights for one month.
India was outraged by the news and many took to social media to criticize the airline’s delay in reporting the matter.
The victim, whose name has not been released, wrote a complaint to Air India’s chairman the day after the event, demanding an immediate arrest of Mishra.
Air India stated that it was releasing the following statement: Fortune that it acknowledged receipt of the letter and “commenced engaging in correspondence with the affected passenger’s family” on Nov. 30. It said that it began a ticket refund process on Dec. 2nd and convened several meetings in the weeks following. When the victim’s family requested on Dec. 26 that the airline lodge a complaint with police, it said, it did so two days later.
Mishra was reportedly confronted by the crew after the incident. He begged her forgiveness.
That didn’t go over well.
“In my already distraught state, I was further disoriented by being made to confront and negotiate with the perpetrator of the horrific incident at close quarters,” she wrote in her statement to the chairman, included in the police complaint from Air India.
She also complained about the manner in which the crew dealt with the incident. They initially refused to change her seat and then sprayed her bags and shoes with disinfectant.
On Friday, India’s airline regulator reminded airlines to “sensitize” cabin crew and pilots on topic of unruly passengers, who it said should be dealt with strictly. It added that complaints must be filed to aviation authorities promptly, and warned that non-compliance will “invite enforcement action.”
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