Air India urination case: 'Woman urinated on herself, has problem of incontinence', says Shankar Mishra's lawyer

The lawyer of Shankar Mishra, who is accused of urinating on a passenger onboard an Air India flight in November, told a Delhi court on January 13 that the complainant had "urinated on herself", and that she suffers from "incontinence".

The lawyer was arguing before a sessions court bench, which was hearing Delhi Police's revision plea challenging a magisterial court’s order of January 7 denying the custody of Mishra.

According to the lawyer, the complainant's "seat was blocked" and it was "not possible" for Mishra to go there.

"The woman has a problem of incontinence. She urinated on herself. She is a Kathak dancer, 80 percent of kathak dancers have this issue," the accused's counsel said, according to news agency ANI.

Incontinence is a medical condition related to the inability of the bladder to hold urine.

The court, while responding to the lawyer's claim, said it is "not impossible to go from one side of the flight to the other", ANI reported. "Sorry, but I have travelled as well. Anybody from any row can come around and go to any seat," the judge reportedly added.

The court also asked the investigators to present a diagram of the flight seating.

Mishra, who was arrested by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru on January 7, had allegedly urinated on the woman, a senior citizen, in an inebriated condition in the business class of the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26 last year.

Delhi Police registered an FIR against Mishra on January 4 on a complaint given by the woman to Air India. The case was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 294 (obscene act in public place), 354 (assault or criminal force to 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), as well as under Aircraft Rules.