A SpiceJet staff member who was arrested for slapping a CISF assistant sub-inspector at
Jaipur Airport
has now alleged that she was sexually harassed by the ASI, which led her to take such action.
According to the SpiceJet staff, ASI Giriraj Prasad approached her on July 11 at 4.30 am while she was on duty and made inappropriate comments.
“I report for duty at the same time.
Like every day, at 4:30 am on 11th July, I was doing my work when ASI Giriraj Prasad came and said, ‘Give us a chance to take care of you (Humey bhi apna seva-paani ka mauka do)’. Then, when I asked him to call a lady constable for frisking. He again said, ‘How much money will you charge for a night (Ek raat rukne ka kya logi)’,” the
SpiceJet employee
said.
She added, “He said, ‘Listen to me, you’ll feel better. Your work will get done quickly.’ I told him that I would file a police complaint against you to which he said ‘You can’t do anything to me. I have seen a lot of women like you, I’ll get you fired.'”
The incident came to light after a video of the female employee slapping the CISF ASI at Jaipur Airport on Thursday went viral. Following a complaint filed by ASI Prasad, the police arrested the SpiceJet employee. In his complaint, Prasad alleged that during a disagreement regarding security screening procedures at the airport, the employee slapped him.
However, the SpiceJet employee, who has been working with the airline for five years, refuted these claims. She said that she had a valid airport entry pass and was well-versed with the rules and regulations. She also mentioned that there is usually a female staff member present in the morning, but not at night and that they coordinate with the female staff on a daily basis.
She said, “Their [ASI Prasad’s] statement that I was forcing to go inside and that I did not have a valid card is wrong. We meet CISF staff every day but usually, we coordinate with the female staff. We do not even talk to the male staff on a daily basis…There is a female staff member there in the morning every day, but there are no female staff members at night. It happens every day that we take the catering van, give them the slip and we go towards the departure hall. There is never any female staff there.”
SpiceJet has issued a statement supporting their employee and has approached the local police to take legal action against the CISF personnel for sexual harassment. The airline said, “SpiceJet is taking immediate legal action in this serious case of
sexual harassment
against its female employee and has approached the local police. We stand firmly by our employee and are committed to providing her with full support.”
Earlier, advocate Deepak Chouhan, the legal representative for the SpiceJet Airlines employee accused of slapping a CISF assistant sub-inspector at Jaipur Airport, claimed that his client was subjected to ‘sexual harassment’ by the police officer, which provoked her to take such action.
Speaking to ANI on Friday, Advocate Deepak Chouhan said, “The SpiceJet employee has been arrested. She was sexually harassed by the CISF ASI at Jaipur Airport. Abusive words were used against her, which caused her to lose her cool and slap the
CISF officer
. This was her natural response to the incident.”
The advocate also stressed that the female employee had no prior history of such behaviour, suggesting that this was an isolated incident triggered by the alleged harassment.
“In court FIR, we have mentioned that the woman had not displayed such behaviour in the past. Had this been her usual behavior, such incidents would have come to light earlier. However, this is a matter of investigation,” Advocate Chouhan added, indicating that the case requires further inquiry to establish the facts surrounding the incident.
