Air India Pee-Gate: Tagged 'Urinator', Mishra Already in Jail But Aircraft's Seat Plan May Spring Plot Twist

While the alleged Air India ‘peeing’ case in which a man is accused of urinating on a senior citizen woman in a New York-Delhi flight is under investigation and in court, the seat numbers of both the passengers brings a possible twist and some questions in the entire episode of allegations.

Highlighted earlier by accused Shankar Mishra’s lawyer in an interview to News18, the seating arrangement in the alleged peeing case has been explained in detail in another report now which raises several questions on the credibility of the claims.

Seating Plan in Boeing B777-300ER Business Class

A report by Money Control mentioned details of the business class seating plan of the Boeing B777-300ER aircraft in which ‘peeing’ the incident allegedly took place. The 70-year-old lady was supposedly on 9A, a window seat. This was told by Shankar Mishra’s lawyer too, who had also said that Mishra was in 8C, the aisle seat right ahead of her. On window seat 8A, next to Mishra, was Sugata Bhattacharjee, a US-based audiologist who had narrated his account of the incident.

ALSO READ: ‘Bro, I Think I’m in Trouble’: What Shankar Mishra Told Co-passenger After Peeing on Woman in Flight

In 9C, the aisle seat next to the complainant, was another elderly lady. Mishra argued that he couldn’t have urinated on the complainant who was on a window seat (9A) because the person on the aisle seat (9C) next to her would’ve blocked his access.

It is also important to note here that none of the passengers who were present at the business class compartment at the time the incident is being alleged to have taken place till now has claimed to see Mishra urinating on the complainant.  

Aviation experts are of the opinion that business class seats are spacious and access to the window seat would depend on whether the aisle seat was fully reclined or upright. If aisle seat 9C was reclined, it would have been difficult to access 9A. There would have been no obstacle if 9C was upright, the report quoted an expert as saying.

Meanwhile, in his defense, Shankar Mishra’s side during his bail plea hearing had argued that the complainant may have urinated on herself, citing that the senior citizen was suffering from a condition related to prostate, which several ‘kathak dancers’ seem to suffer from.

Questions Over Credibility of Allegations: 

While we are not taking sides, the seating arrangement of the aircraft’s business class and the seat numbers of Shankar Mishra and the complainant do trigger questions in the case and on the credibility of the claims.

Were the complainant and the accused indeed seated on the seat numbers mentioned? Is it possible that the complainant swapped seats with the person next to her, or that the person next to her was not in her seat when the incident happened?

This also brings in question the credibility of the account of Sugata Bhattacharjee, the person seated next to accused Mishra, which reportedly confirmed the septuagenarian’s allegation.

Case Recap:

The Bengaluru Police on January 7 arrested Shankar Mishra, accused of “urinating” on a senior citizen co-passenger on an Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26. Mishra was arrested from a guest house in Bengaluru and was brought to Delhi later where he was produced in a court over the matter. The court then sent him to judicial custody.

The accused, who held a top post in the US financial services company Wells Fargo until he was fired on January 6, had been holed up in Bengaluru ever since a lookout circular was issued as the matter escalated over a month after the incident took place.

What Shankar Mishra’s Lawyer Said on Woman Raising Pee Incident After Accepting Compensation

Mishra’s lawyer spoke to News18 and said that while the matter is now in court and everything will be decided by trial led by evidence, there always is a different side of a story, adding that “we have been pushing too hard for one side of this entire story”. The lawyer called the criminal complaint against Mishra by the woman after accepting compensation a “malicious afterthought”.

Raising some questions which she termed important, Shankar Mishra’s lawyer Ishanee Sharma asked as to how is there no complaint or eyewitness account from those who were sitting on the middle and the aisle seats when the accused, as per claims, was urinating on the passenger who was sitting on 9A, which is a window seat.

“There are a few very very important questions. 1. We know that the seat number of the lady was 9A. 9A is a window seat. So arguably there would be someone sitting in the between? There would be someone seated on the aisle seat? We have heard no complaints, no eyewitness account, no one coming out and saying that I was on the aisle seat I got affected in the process or I witnessed this with my own eyes, ” Mishra’s lawyer Ishanee Sharma told News18.

She added that Mishra, when he was in a “better state”, was told what all he did and was not in a state to recall what he did, he apologised, which was also accepted.

“Saying my client was inebriated, was intoxicated…the client was not in his best frame of mind but you cannot presume it to be just under the influence of alcohol. Because when he was in a better state, he was told, he was accused of a certain things that you did this, you did this, you did this, and he was not in a state to actually recall what he did, he apologised, and his apology was accepted,” the lawyer said.

“You can read the WhatsApp messages, he has been very very apologetic and respectful to the female in question and that apology was well taken,” she added. The lawyer called the criminal complaint by the woman in question and return of the compensation money an “afterthought”, adding that the woman had said replied with “received” when the money was sent to her.

“I’d call it a malicious afterthought,” the lawyer said.

‘Urinated on Herself, Many Kathak Dancers Suffer From This Issue’ | Decoding Accused’s Claim

Shankar Mishra last week claimed that his co-passenger “peed on herself as she suffers from a problem that most kathak dancers have.”

Mishra’s counsel had said that the woman’s “seat was blocked”. “It wasn’t possible for him to walk from there,” he said, adding that the woman urinated on herself due to a problem that many kathak dancers have, and “when she realised what happened, she didn’t know what happened”.

This claim, of kathak dancers suffering from urinary incontinence, ignited a debate. Various veterans of the dance form have denounced the claim.

While we did not come across any research specific to urinary incontinence in Kathak dancers, there are studies on various athletes and dancers suffering from the issue. READ MORE ABOUT IT HERE

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