18-yr-old alleges sexual harassment on Indigo flight, airline insists on police complaint

The girl’s uncle, who highlighted the incident on Twitter, says that it is not always easy to resist and report and due process puts too much onus on the survivor.

news Sexual harassment

March 31 was an exciting day for Keerthi*. She had recently turned 18 and she was to take her first flight alone from Chennai to Delhi. What happened on board the flight however left the teenager traumatised. A middle aged co-passenger, seated beside her on the Indigo flight, allegedly sexually harassed her throughout the flight. And while she was understandably unable to speak up during this time, the airline has refused to take action against the man without a formal police complaint.

Keerthi’s uncle, Prasanto K Roy, a policy consultant, highlighted the incident on Twitter. Speaking to TNM, he recounts what happened with his niece. Keerthi told Prasanto that the man started by asking her seemingly normal questions about her life and where she came from.

“After that he told me to lie down on his lap since he could tell I wasn’t well, to which I initially said no but then I lay [my head] on his shoulder for a second since he kept insisting… And then moved away and he kept asking me to lie down on him and hold his hand on the journey, since he thought I was scared (sic),” Keerthi told Prasanto.

The middle aged man then allegedly removed his socks and proceeded to keep his legs on hers, feeling up her leg. “And then he said I’m very beautiful and I should be strong… if I don’t like his touch I should say no but he kept doing it till we landed (sic),” Keerthi told her uncle.

After he came to know about the incident, Prasanto tweeted about it on the same day (March 31), tagging Indigo and indicating that they would like to make a formal complaint.

@IndiGo6E My 18yo niece was on 6E2652 MAA-DEL today. A middle-aged male co-pass on 14F harassed her, touched her, pulled off his socks and put his legs on hers, told her she was beautiful and she should put her head in his lap. We'd like to make a formal complaint. Pls advise. — PKR | (@prasanto) March 31, 2019

Prasanto said that his niece was traumatised and froze up when the alleged harassment took place and could not speak up while on the flight. Her reaction is one experienced by numerous sexual violence survivors who are unable to respond or react at the time of the assault, or even immediately after it.

This is ridiculous @IndiGo6E. You do understand that it’s hard for an 18-year-old to complain ‘while she’s being harassed’. Do inform us of steps you plan to take to make your flights safe for women. https://t.co/sGq6XDG2js — Namita Bhandare (@namitabhandare) April 9, 2019

It happened to me. I was 28. In a bus. I was sleeping. The man took my hand and proceeded to touch himself



I didn't complain. I curled up scared. Some women manage to summon strength. Many don't. But our trauma is real. — Tourist PM BeeGee (@joBeeGeorgeous) April 9, 2019

I’m the freezing up types, this must hv been horribly traumatising

I’m so sorry she had to go through this

Indigo u need to take this seriously and tell us what u’ve done about it — (@mischiefkar) April 9, 2019

Prasanto’s tweet was picked up by #MeTooIndia. “Hello @IndiGo6E often it's difficult for a survivor to complain during the flight — among many things — so as not to draw attention to herself, fear of backlash and inaction such as yours. You have passenger's detail, what's stopping you from blacklisting after investigation?” it questioned.

Indigo responded by saying that they had assured Keerthi of all necessary support if she wishes to file a police complaint, and provide requisite information to relevant investigating authorities. “Without due process, an airline cannot deny a passenger the right to travel,” Indigo said.

With respect to this incident, we have assured the passenger that if the passenger wishes to file a police complaint in relation to this incident, we will extend all necessary support and assistance to her in this process and also1/2 — IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) April 9, 2019

provide the requisite information to the relevant authorities, who would be suited to perform an investigation into the matter. Without due process, an airline cannot deny a passenger the right to travel. 2/2 ~Snigdha — IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) April 9, 2019

After Prasanto’s initial tweet, Indigo gave him also a similar response. After he sent the airline the details, Indigo pointed out that as Keerthi did not complain during the flight, there was no other way to lodge a formal complaint other than a police complaint.

No, airline reiterates that it can't act if no complaint made in-flight. Only option is police complaint: airline will respond to a CrPC Section 91 request for information (passenger name, given flight details and seat number) — PKR (@prasanto) April 9, 2019

No, airline reiterates that it can't act if no complaint made in-flight. Only option is police complaint: airline will respond to a CrPC Section 91 request for information (passenger name, given flight details and seat number) — PKR | (@prasanto) April 9, 2019

While due process is important, it has been known to let down, dismiss and re-traumatise victims and survivors of sexual violence time and again. And so, Prasanto says that while he gets where the airline is coming from, they are probably not going to make a police complaint due to multiple issues such as lack of clarity on different cities and jurisdictions. “It is also likely that the police would see this as a case where ‘nothing major happened' and it would be plenty of hassle for the teenager and her mother,” he said.

In this scenario, the policy consultant feels that the airline should at least reach out to the offending passenger and warn him about the complaint received against him. “He probably does not even know that he’s being called out and may feel encouraged. What is stopping him from doing this to another person?” Prasanto argues.

When TNM posed the same question to the airline, an official said that they would stick to the response they have given on Twitter, and reiterated that they could not do anything more without a police complaint.

The only silver lining about this incident, Prasanto says, is that people are looking to educate their children on recognising and reporting sexual harassment. “I have received a number of messages online and offline where concerned parents intend to use this incident to speak to their children about what they can do in such situations,” says the father of an 11-year-old daughter.

That being said, Prasanto agrees that it is not always easy to resist and report, and due process puts too much onus on the survivor.

Further, safe bystander intervention in such scenarios, where possible, is also immensely helpful for a survivor. For instance, this Twitter thread recounts an excellent example of the same. A group of women came together to look out for and report the sexual harassment of a teenager on a flight by a man in his mid-thirties. The airline, which is only referred to as a Canadian one, responded sensitively in this case and took action against the offending man.

A man appearing in his late thirties was obviously delighted to be seated next to a teenager separated from the rest of her family. He started off by asking about her career plans and laughed when she said she wanted to be CEO and kept giving her ridiculous advice. — Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019

It did, and as soon as he asked for a “dirty” photo while leaning close to her I turned around and rage-whispered exactly what I thought of that and he didn’t say anything back and went off to use the washroom. — Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019

They checked other witness accounts and the head of the flight service (a woman) asked the man to move. He resisted then started swearing at me and asked to talk to the boss and the head flight attendant said “I’m the boss, this is really serious and we could land the plane.” — Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019

But none of the male passengers seemed to show they noticed what was going on. Maybe fellow women are more likely to pick up on warning signs early on in the conversation because we used to be teenage girls too? March 25, 2019

The second time I traveled alone an older man struck up a convo while we waited for boarding and he asked about many details of my travels then kissed me without my consent. I was too shocked to say anything. — Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019

It’s so disturbing there are predatory people out there who act like they have no idea what they’re doing is wrong. It’s unclear if the man is going to be monitored by flight crew the next time he flies. — Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) March 25, 2019