Air India Peegate victim rubbishes Shankar Mishra's bizarre 'she peed on herself' defence

After the Air India 'urinating' incident accused Shankar Mishra's counsel told a Delhi court that he did not commit the offensive act and that it was the 70-year-old woman in question who urinated in her seat, the victim came forward to rubbish the allegations on Friday, January 13.

In a statement, the victim acknowledged that on behalf of the accused certain 'scurrilous and defamatory' allegations were made against her.

The statement said,"Needless to state, the allegations are completely false and concocted and by their very nature are disparaging and derogatory. The said allegations are also in complete contradiction and a complete volte face of the statements and the pleaded case of the accused in his bail application."

It added, "The endeavour of the victim throughout has been to ensure that institutional changes are made so that no individual has to go through the horrendous experience that the victim suffered. However, the accused, instead of being remorseful for the utterly disgusting act committed by him, has adopted a campaign of spreading misinformation and falsities with the intent of further harassing the victim." 

The Peegate 

The incident allegedly took place on November 26 on the business class of an Air India New York-New Delhi flight when Mishra, in an inebriated condition, walked up to the woman's seat, exposed himself and urinated on her. A complaint in this regard was filed first with N Chandrasekaran, chairperson of the Tata Group, which owns Air India, and then, with the Police. On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was filed under Sections 354 ( Assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 510 (Misconduct in public by a drunken person) of the Indian Penal Code.

Expelled Vice President of Wells Fargo, Mishra had been on the run from authorities until his arrest last week from Bengaluru.  A court, turning down the police's request for custody, had sent him to 14-day judicial remand on Saturday. His request for bail, however, was turned down four days later by a judge, who called the accusations against him "utterly disgusting and repulsive".