Air India Pee-Gate issue: How is the other woman not enraged? asks Shankar Mishra's counsel

"The woman was sitting on 9A and there was another woman sitting next to her. They claim that he urinated in such a way that the woman next to her wasn't at all affected. How is that possible, how is the other woman not enraged?" The lawyer of the accused in the Air India Pee-Gate issue asked.

New Delhi:The lawyer of the accused in the Air India Pee-Gate issue has claimed that there is a 'clear lack of evidence' in the case filed. Advocate Ishane Sharma on Friday pointed out that it is not possible that the other woman present where the victim was seated was not enraged or affected when Mishra, the accused, unzipped and relieved himself on the complainant.

"There is a lack of witnesses, the case came to light only when the woman claimed the incident to have happened herself," Sharma said. The advocate retorted to the claim that Mishra urinated in such a manner that the passenger sitting next to the victim wasn't affected, claiming that the allegations do not make sense. "The woman was sitting on 9A and there was another woman sitting next to her. They claim that he urinated in such a way that the woman next to her wasn't at all affected. How is that possible, how is the other woman not enraged? This logic fails basic physics and we have been saying this from the start. There have not been any old grudges between both of them. What was alleged does not make sense," she added.

The Magistrate Court of Delhi's Patiala House Court dismissed the bail plea by accused Shankar Mishra on January 11, claiming that the alleged act of the accused relieving himself upon the complainant is utterly disgusting and repulsive. "The alleged act in itself is sufficient to outrage the modesty of any woman. Egregious conduct of the accused has shocked the civic consciousness and needs to be deprecated, said Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Garg.

As per the allegations, the accused was voluntarily drunk and had consumed alcohol during the flight and the said fact has not been denied by the applicant. The alleged act in itself prima facie reflects the intention of the accused, added the Court.

Shankar Mishra was arrested by Delhi police from Bengaluru on January 6, 2023. Mishra had allegedly urinated on a 70-year-old woman in an intoxicated condition in business class of an Air India flight on November 26 last year.

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. US-based financial services company Wells Fargo last week also terminated its employee Shankar Mishra. (With Agency Inputs)