Giving clean chit to Air India pilots in the Komal Singh sexual harassment case, the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday said the air hostess was not molested but only pushed during a mid-air scuffle on an international flight.
"There is no sexual harassment by the commander of Komal Singh," NCW member Wansuk Syiem, who was a part of the probe committee, said.
"It is just a misbehaviour from both sides. I must say some arguments were there, which caused this physical push by the commander to her," she said.
Syiem said in the report, which has been submitted last night, the committee has written that during the flight, the captain had called the purser Amit Khanna inside the cockpit and an argument ensued.
"It was at this time that Singh also entered the cockpit and she was pushed," the NCW member said.
Singh sent her complaint first to NCW through an email on October 5 and then went to the Commission to file a written complaint.
She had alleged that she was molested by Captain Ranbir Arora and his co-pilot Aditya Chopra of Flight IC-884 on a Sharjah-New Delhi flight on October 3.
There was a scuffle involving Komal, her friend Khanna and the pilots, which raised concerns over the conduct of the crew and flight safety. There were 106 persons on board on that flight.
Earlier, a five-member enquiry committee of Air India, which went into her complaint about the incident, had concluded that whatever complaint air hostess Komal Singh has made regarding sexual harassment "is an after-thought".
The committee was set up on October 6 to investigate the matter.
Air India had then suspended Khanna and Chopra, pending enquiry. Komal and the Commander of the flight, Capt Ranbir Arora, were taken off duty to assist in the probe.
The enquiry committee chargesheeted Komal for allegedly violating conduct rules, not complying with the company policy and speaking to the media, insubordination and disobeying seniors.
The incident was seen as an act of indiscipline on the part of the air hostess and flight purser, who had barged into the cockpit. PTI
