Air India 'pee-gate': Shankar Mishra blames woman, says complainant 'herself urinated'
1 min read 13 Jan 2023, 04:11 PM ISTOn 11 January, Shankar Mishra's lawyer Manu Sharma argued in a Delhi court saying, ‘the unzipping was not a sexual desire but he could not hold his drink'.
PremiumAir India Pee-Gate: New York to Delhi Air India ‘pee-gate’ accused, Shankar Mishra on Friday told Delhi Court that he did not urinate on the elderly woman, but ‘she urinated on herself’. ‘I did not urinate on complainant,’ Shankar Mishra told Delhi Court when he was presented for an ongoing case wherein a septuagenarian alleged that the vice president of Wells Fargo's India chapter had in an inebriated state urinated on her on the Delhi bound flight on 26 November 2022.
The surprising turn of comments come at a time when even a co-passenger, a doctor of audiology in the United States, has confirmed the elderly woman's allegations. A string of WhatsApp exchanges Mishra had with the victim woman which surfaced earlier suggested the unsavoury incident indeed took place.
Shankar Mishra and his lawyer insisted that the former had not committed the offensive act. The claim by his lawyer, made for the first time since the sordid event unfolded on an Air India New York-New Delhi flight on November 26 last year.
“I'm not the accused. There must be someone else. She herself urinated. She was suffering from some disease related to prostate. It was not him. The seating system was such that no one could go to her seat.
"Her seat could only be approached from behind, and in any case the the urine could not reach to seat's front area. Also, the passenger sitting behind the complainant did not make any such complain," defence advocate told court.
The judge was hearing Delhi police's plea seeking custodial interrogation of the accused.
On 11 January, Shankar Mishra's lawyer Manu Sharma argued in a Delhi court saying, ‘the unzipping was not a sexual desire but he could not hold his drink'. Sharma further also pointed out that further pointed out that his client can not categorised as a lustful man.
Delhi Police had registered an FIR against him on January 4 on a complaint given by the woman to Air India. The police registered an FIR under sections 354, 509, and 510 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 23 of the Indian Aircraft Act. Both the accused and the victim are from outside Delhi.
