Airlines staff abuse international flyer at RGIA, booked
HYDERABAD: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport police of Cyberabad commissionerate registered a case against the staff of a commercial airline deputed at RGIA on charges of abusing and harassing a wheel-chair bound international woman passenger and also a police constable who was assisting her during the check-in process.
When the USA-bound female passenger, who was sick, arrived at the check-in counter in a wheelchair, the staff at the counter allegedly abused her in a vulgar language even as other passengers looked on. When the police constable, deputed at the airport as a liaison officer, tried to intervene and explain to the staff, they abused him, calling him drunk.
On a complaint from the constable, a case under sections 353, 504 and 506 of the IPC has been registered. The incident happened on Saturday.
RGI Airport police station Inspector R Srinivas confirmed that a case has been registered and is under investigation.
Constable Gemya Naik is posted at the airport, to liaison with all the departments in RGI Airport Shamshabad and also to facilitate movement of passengers. In the early hours of Saturday, a female passenger in her late 50s, who was ill and on a wheelchair, approached Naik to help her in the check-in process. Her husband was also accompanying her.
He escorted her to the check-in counter of the airline and explained the situation to the staff, requesting for an early check-in. The counter in-charge asked him to wait as other passengers were in queue. After other passengers were cleared, Naik went to the counter again for the female passenger’s check-in process.
The counter in charge identified as Santoshini came to them and started abusing him asking why he had come there, despite him displaying his identity card and also the documents authorising him to liaison at the airport.
Even as Santoshini was abusing, her colleague identified as Jagadeesh joined her and started abusing the cop and also the female passenger. However, after the melee, the couple completed the check-in process and went ahead with their travel.