Indian pilot harasses female cabin crew member

Delhi police and Civil Aviation investigate the matter

A female cabin crew member of an Indian airline alleged that she was sexually harassed by the pilot of the flight she was operating on, HindustanTimes reported.

The crew member of IndiGo stated in her complaint to Delhi police that the incident occurred on April 16 during the course of the flight.

The victim alleged that she had gone to serve the pilot hot water when he asked her for a selfie and then molested her. The co-pilot was in the washroom she added.

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“I was operating [on a] Bengaluru-Amritsar-Srinagar-Delhi flight on April 16 and during the first leg of the flight, the captain asked another crew to send me in the cockpit along with hot water. I went inside the cockpit and the first officer went out to use the washroom. I saw the captain had his mobile phone in his hand with the camera on mode. I took the observer seat afterwards,” the woman said in her complaint.

“Immediately, when the first officer went out and closed the door, he asked me to take a selfie with him, which I clearly denied it. Then he got up from the seat and move towards me, which made me uncomfortable and then I also got up from my seat,” she claimed.

The crew member then described how the captain sexually harassed her till the first officer came inside the cockpit. She also claimed that the pilot came to her after the landing at Amritsar and asked for her phone number and continued to stalk her after every landing.

Upon arriving at their final destination in Delhi, she added that the pilot tried to hug her after which she informed the rest of the crew and the airline management in Delhi about the incident and filed a first information report (FIR) with the Delhi Police next day.

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Delhi police registered a case of harassment against the suspect and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India’s aviation regulator, also began investigating the matter as it is linked to the safety of passengers.

An IndiGo spokesperson said, “The company is looking into an incident on-board Bengaluru-Amritsar-Srinagar-Delhi flight on April 16 and will be investigating the matter as per its applicable policy. Following the completion of the investigation, the company will take necessary action.”