IndiGo crisis sees teacher stranded at Shillong airport with husband's coffin: 'What do I do?'

IndiGo’s operational meltdown has sparked outrage after a video surfaced showing a woman stranded at Shillong airport with her husband’s coffin following flight delays and cancellations. The woman, identified by Instagram users as a senior English teacher, Manjuri Palit, from St Anthony’s Higher Secondary School in Shillong, broke down while pleading for assistance.

“I have come all the way from Shillong… my husband passed away, and I have come here to transport the casket all the way to Kolkata to be buried in his hometown," she told news agency ANI. "We booked an IndiGo flight at 7.10 am, and till now we have no information whether the flight is going to take off or not. Now what does a person like me in this situation do?"

Palit explained that she can neither take the coffin back to Shillong or carry it to Kolkata, given the circumstances. "The body is embalmed for 48 hours, which will expire tomorrow at 4 pm. Who is going to take responsibility for it?” she asked.

Her distress resonated online, with former students expressing shock and sympathy. “She was my English teacher in St. Anthony’s. So sorry about your loss and the troubles you faced, Miss,” wrote one user. Another added: “Seeing one of our humble senior teachers of Shillong face this is really heartbreaking.”