As fortune reported yesterday, the Indian aviation regulator scolded Air India this week for being “unprofessional” and “lacking empathy” in the handling of a strange incident at the end of November, in which a male passenger allegedly urinated on a woman during the November 26 flight. New York to Delhi.
Now the male passenger, who had been traveling in business class, has been identified as a vice president at Wells Fargo. Indian police arrested the executive, Shankar Mishra, on Saturday.
The bank said in a statement late Friday that it had terminated Mishra, who worked at a subsidiary in India, and was cooperating with local law enforcement, adding in a brief statement that the incident was “deeply troubling.” fortune reached Wells Fargo outside of normal business hours but did not receive an immediate reply.
In the statement sent to fortuneAir India said it “recognizes that it can handle these issues better, both in the air and on the ground.”
Mishra faces charges under Indian law of obscenity, sexual harassment, and insulting the modesty of a woman. according to The HinduDelhi court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.
Air India, owned by the Tata Group, said it had banned Mishra from flying for a month.
In India, news of the incident sparked outrage on social media, with many criticizing the airline for not reporting the matter to police until weeks ago.
The victim, whose name has not been released, wrote a complaint to the Air India chairman a day after the incident, demanding Mishra’s immediate arrest.
Air India said in a statement to fortune who acknowledged the receipt of the letter and “began to engage in correspondence with the families of affected passengers” on November 30. It added that they started refunding tickets on December 2 and convened various meetings the following week. When the victim’s family requested it on December 26, the airline filed a complaint with the police, he said, two days later.
After the incident, the crew reportedly brought Mishra face-to-face with the unsuspecting victim, and he apologized.
That didn’t end well.
“In my country I am already confused, I am more confused because I was made to face and negotiate with the perpetrators of the terrible incident nearby,” he wrote in a statement to the chairman, included in the police complaint from Air India.
He also complained about the way the crew handled the incident, including initially refusing his request to change seats and simply spraying his urine-soaked shoes and bag with disinfectant.
On Friday, the Indian airline regulator remember the airline to “sensitize” cabin crew and pilots on the topic of unruly passengers, who said they should be dealt with strictly. He added that complaints should be filed with aviation authorities as soon as possible, and warned that non-compliance would “invite enforcement action.”
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