Shame, public condemnation, punitive action and even police arrest seem to have failed to stop drunken flyers from urinating in open spaces on flights and airports.
In such a recent incident, a passenger from Bihar was caught peeing outside Gate No. 6 – a departure gate – of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 3 on January 8.
Jauhar Ali Khan, 39, was caught peeing under the influence of alcohol by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Speaking to The New Indian, an officer of the Delhi Police said that the CISF was informed after an argument broke out between Khan and some other persons who objected to his conduct in the public space.
“He urinated in a public place among the passengers and visitors in front of departure gate number 6 and created a nuisance by screaming and abusing the common public,” the officer said.
The accused had to board a flight to Dammam city of Saudi Arabia.
He was later booked and arrested by the Delhi Police under sections 294 (uttering obscene words in a public place) and 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at IGI Airport police station.
His medical examination was conducted at Safdarjung Hospital, which confirmed the presence of alcohol in his body. He was later released on a bail bond.
The incident came close to the heels of the arrest of a senior corporate executive who urinated on an elderly woman co-passenger in an inebriated state on board an Air India New York-Delhi flight on November 26 last year. Accused Shankar Mishra was arrested from Bengaluru following days of manhunt.
Air India has expressed regret over the peeing incident, with its chairman N Chandrasekaran saying the airline’s response should have been swifter and better. The Tata Group-owned airline has also ordered an enquiry to ascertain where there were any lapses on the part of flight pilot and crew members.