American banking giant, Wells Frago, has sacked its senior executive, Shankar Mishra, for allegedly peeing on a 72-year-old woman on an Air India flight. This was after social media platforms exploded in India with users demanding the strictest action against Mishra, who’s now being called a ‘pervert.’
Wells Fargo said in a statement that the company ‘holds employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behavior and we find these allegations deeply disturbing.’
“This individual has been terminated from Wells Fargo,” the company’s statement added.
Mishra was travelling on an Air India flight from New York City to Mumbai on 26 November in the business class cabin when he urinated on a 72-year-old passenger.
Mishra’s father told India Today TV channel that his son had not slept for more than 70 hours before adding that the accused did not pee on the elderly woman.
According to reports, Mishra offered monetary compensation to the victim and promised to pay for the cleaning of her dress and bags.
In her complaint, the woman alleged that the incident took place immediately after the cabin crew served lunch and dimmed the lights. Mishra is alleged to have got up from his seat and walked a few steps before unzipping his trouser and urinating on the woman.
The role of Air India, now under the ownership of Tata, has come under sharp criticism. The woman alleged that she requested the airline crew to have Mishra arrested after the plane landed in Mumbai. But, not only did the airline turn a blind eye to her request, the victim was allegedly made to sit next to Mishra for the remainder of her journey.
The crew reportedly gave her a set of pajamas and footwear and sprayed disinfectant on her belongings.
It took several days before Mishra’s identity was revealed. Initially, the airline had said that it took action by banning the accused from flying for 30 days.
India’s civil aviation watchdog, the Directorate of General Civil Aviation, too came down heavily on Air India as it said in a statement, “The conduct of the concerned airline appears to be unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure.”
A report by NDTV said that an identical incident had taken place on another Air India flight between Paris and Delhi on 6 December when a male passenger peed on a female passenger. The woman passenger had declined to press charges after receiving a written apology from the drunk male passenger.
