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NEW DELHI: There was chaos mid-air after a 25-year-old wo man was allegedly sexually assaulted by a flyer sitting next to her in a Spicejet flight early on Thursday. As the woman raised an alarm, her parents and 16 other women thrashed the man for the alleged misbehaviour.

The flight SG-012, which was heading from Dubai to Delhi, was to land at the IGI airport at 5.20am. Around 4am, the woman dozed off. While her father was sitting on one side, the accused, identified as Sharikh Khan, an engineer, was sitting on the other side of the woman.

A senior official said that around 4.40am, the woman woke up as she felt the man’s hand on hers. Shocked, she moved it aside and asked Khan to behave. She alleged that Khan then hit her and hurled abuses at her, asking her to stop screaming.

Many passengers had woken up by then and the woman told them about Khan’s alleged behaviour. As the man started to counter her claims and also screamed at a few women who had come up to his seat, the women surrounded him and started hitting him.

While a few passengers made a video of the assault, some others rushed to separate the women and Khan. The flight staff intervened immediately but they could be separated only after some time. Several official announcements were also made requesting the passengers to calm down. At 5.20am, the flight landed and the crew members informed Central Industrial Security Force at the airport.

According to a senior CISF official, the SpiceJet crew informed Security Operations Control Centre about an unruly passenger arriving from Dubai following which a team reached the spot.

On arrival, both parties also dialled 100. Delhi Police arrived and took both parties to the IGIA police station. An FIR under IPC 354(A) (sexual harassment) was registered and Khan was arrested.

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