A female cabin crew member of domestic carrier IndiGo has leveled sexual harassment charges against the pilot of the same plane. The alleged incident happened on April 16, when the flight she was on-board was cruising and the co-pilot was in the washroom.
Going by a report of HT, the victim her complaint to the Delhi Police, said that she had gone to serve the pilot hot water and was sitting as observer when he asked her for a selfie and then molested her.
“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 first officer went out to use the washroom. I saw captain had his mobile phone in his hand with camera on mode. I took the observer seat afterwards,” the victim said in her complaint.
“Immediately, when 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 victim then described how the captain sexually harassed her till first officer came inside the cockpit.
Delhi police registered a case of harassment and investigation is currently underway. On the other hand, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India’s aviation regulator, is also investigating the matter as it is linked to safety of passengers.
Below is Indigo’s official response to the allegations levelled:
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 investigation, the company will take necessary action.
IndiGo is committed to maintaining a positive and safe working environment, and has zero tolerance towards any form of sexual or gender based discrimination. As a responsible organization with 43% of women in our workforce, IndiGo firmly believes in governing our business with ethics, transparency and accountability at all levels. We ensure our employees are sensitized regularly about company’s prevention of sexual harassment policy, which is in compliance with law. As part of our robust policy for the prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace, our Internal Committee maintains complete confidentiality of any such incidents reported.
