AirAsia passenger arrested at Bengaluru airport for harassing crew: Report

The man was escorted off the AirAsia flight and taken to the Bengaluru airport police station. (Representational Image).

An AirAsia passenger was arrested at Bengaluru airport for harassing a flight attendant, a Times of India report said.

As per sources, Anil Kumar, 40, from Kalaburagi in north Karnataka was scheduled to fly to Goa at 4:10 am on September 13 when he misbehaved with the flight attendant while the boarding was ongoing. "He was seated on 21B (middle seat) of the flight. When a 21-year-old flight attendant was attending to boarding passengers, he started misbehaving with her, tried to touch her inappropriately and grab her hand. He also made sly remarks about her," an investigating officer told The Times of India.

The man was escorted off the flight and taken to the airport police station, where he was kept in custody.

According to AIX Connect Spokesperson, "A passenger behaved in an inappropriate manner with our cabin crew while boarding a flight from Bengaluru to Goa. The passenger was offloaded immediately, and a complaint was filed with the Bengaluru Airport Police Station. We also initiated action in accordance with our disruptive passenger handling policy and relevant regulations concerning the safety and comfort of passengers and airline personnel. We prioritise the security and well-being of our guests and crew. We have a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive conduct on our flights."

This is not the first instance of an AirAsia passenger being arrested for harassing a crew member or a co-passenger.

In May, a man was arrested after a 21-year-old flight attendant complained that he had sexually harassed her at the Kempegowda International Airport. The incident allegedly took place when passengers were deboarding the flight at Bengaluru.

Recently, a man was arrested after he was caught sexually harassing a co-passenger on a Mumbai-Guwahati Indigo flight. The incident took place on September 9 on an Indigo flight 6E-5319 which left Mumbai after 9 pm and landed at Guwahati at 12:15 am.

Also read: Air India imposes two-year flying ban on individual for unruly behaviour onboard Delhi-London flight in April