’Molestation’ in air, snubbed by NCW, air hostess to move court

Air India initiates enquiry against her on violation of conduct rule

'Molestation' in air, snubbed by NCW, air hostess to move court

Air India initiates enquiry against her on violation of conduct rule

After being snubbed by the National Commission for Woman (NCW), 'molested' Air India air hostess Komal Singh's fight for justice seems to have turned into a nightmare. Now, Air India has initiated an enquiry against Singh for misconduct that compromised flight safety.

Sourcesu00a0 say the five-member Air India panel probing the mid-air scuffle was not satisfied with Singh's reply to the charge sheet. Singh was issued au00a0 charge sheet on October 23 after the panel rubbished molestation charges she levelled against two pilots of the airline.u00a0 Moreover, as Singh was charged with violation of conduct rule and for not complying with the company policy, now a departmental enquiry has been initiated against her.

Meanwhile, ruling out "sexual assault", the NCW panel report says it was a "physical push" by Commander Ranbir Arora, "which was a result of his strong concern about the safety of the passengers." The report has been submitted to Women and Child development (WCD) Ministry, giving a clean chit to the pilot and the co-pilot, the two accused in the case. However, the report recommended the charge sheet issued to Komal Singh be withdrawn.

NCW panel head Wansuk Syiemu00a0 said, "There was a physical fight and both parties were equally responsible."

The panel also said the behaviour of flight purser aggravated the situation. Also the flight commander should not have misbehaved and reported the incident after landing. Last week, the air hostess sent a written complaint against one of the panel members and a typist at NCW for not taking part of her statement into account and approaching her to settle the case outside.

Poonam Singh, sister of the victim, said, "We have not got the report from NCW. We have heard about it from media. But if it's so we will approach the court for justice."

The case
On October 3, a mid-air scuffle broke out between between the pilots and cabin crew on a Sharjah-Lucknow flight.

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