Woman 'sexually harassed' on Abu Dhabi-Chennai Indigo flight; accused arrested

The woman said that the man hailing from Karaikudi "inapppropriately" touched her several times despite her resistance.

Chennai: In yet another incident of unruly behavior on board flights, a young man from Karaikudi area of Tamil Nadu has been accused of sexually harassing a woman passenger on board an Indigo Airlines passenger flight which landed at the Chennai airport from Abu Dhabi on Thursday, sources said. The accused has been arrested by the Chennai airport police even as he has denied any wrongdoing.

Panic spread inside the Indigo flight with 156 passengers on board as the woman screamed mid-air on Thursday, sources said. As the fellow passengers asked her why she was screaming, the woman told them that the young man sitting behind her had inappropriately touched her several times. Sources said that he young man was severely reprimanded by the flight attendants and fellow passengers.

However, the accused denied any wrongdoing saying that his hand had touched the woman while he was asleep to which the woman said that he was lying. The woman said that the man had not touched her once but many times. “I hit his hands several times, but he continued to act like that,'' she complained. As the situation turned ugly, the flight attendants informed the flight captain, who in turn contacted the Chennai airport control room and alerted security officials.

As the plane landed at Chennai International Airport, the accused man was handed over to the Chennai airport police station. The woman passenger also went to the police station to file a complaint against the youth. The accused has been identified as Shakthi (28), hailing from Karaikudi in Sivagangai district.

He is working as a labourer in Saudi Arabia and was returning to his hometown on vacation. A police official said that case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Violence Against Women Act, Air Safety Act. The accused was produced in Alandur court on Friday morning and sent to jail later.

This is not the first such incident reported at the Chennai airport. A few years ago, a complaint was filed against a Kerala state minister for molesting a TV actress on a private passenger flight from Chennai to Kochi. The case had also gone to the court. Similarly, a few months ago, a female doctor who landed at the Chennai airport from Kuwait was reported to have been harassed by a fellow passenger.

The victim doctor had posted the incident on social media after which the Chennai airport police registered a case and arrested the accused.