Woman urinated on herself in Air India flight, says accused

Mishra was produced before the Patiala House Court on January 7 after which he was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody over the November 26 incident.

New Delhi

Accused Shankar Mishra leaves Patiala House Court, in New Delhi on Saturday. (ANI)

Shankar Mishra, the man accused of urinating on a woman co-passenger on an Air India flight from New York to New Delhi, told a Delhi court on Friday the allegations against him were false and that a medical condition led to the woman urinating on herself, a claim that doesn’t appear to be consistent with the details of the case.

The lawyer for the accused made the submission before additional sessions judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla while arguing against a Delhi Police petition seeking revision of a January 7 order passed by a magisterial court that denied police Mishra’s custodial interrogation.

Mishra was produced before the Patiala House Court on January 7 after which he was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody over the November 26 incident.

The public prosecutor submitted before the court that they were seeking three-day police custody of the accused to interrogate him. The Delhi Police also said they wanted to find out who all helped Mishra in hiding as he was arrested from a Bengaluru guest house, where his name was not registered in the logbook.

Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for Mishra, submitted before the court that Mishra could not have urinated on the complainant as it was physically impossible for Mishra to approach the area where the complainant was seated.

“I’m not the accused. There must be someone else. It seems she herself urinated. She was suffering from some disease . It was not me. The seating system was such that no one could go to her seat. Her seat could only be approached from behind... Also, the passenger sitting behind the complainant did not make any such complaint,” the advocate told the judge.

The prosecution said: “The accused tried to evade. We also need to find out whether he had consumed anything else before boarding the plane, and how did he consume. Questions like where did he hide himself, why was he not appearing before the (probe) agency, need to be answered.”

An FIR was filed against Mishra in Delhi on January 4, and he was arrested on January 6 from Bengaluru.

Mishra moved a bail application, which was denied by the Patiala House Court on January 11. The court observed that the act was “sufficient to outrage the modesty of any woman”.