Drunk 63-Year-Old Swedish National Molests IndiGo Cabin Crew on Bangkok-Mumbai Flight, Arrested

The 63-year-old Sweden national Klas Erik Herald Jonasm was allegedly in an inebriated state when he molested the IndiGo flight attendant on the international flight from Thailand to India.

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A 63-year-old Sweden national, identified as Klas Erik Herald Jonasm, was arrested in Mumbai for allegedly molesting a female cabin crew on Bangkok-Mumbai IndiGo flight on March 30, 2023. As reported by ANI, the Swedish national was handed over to Mumbai police by the airline staff after the IndiGo flight landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Thursday. The report further states that the 63-year-old was allegedly in an inebriated state when he molested the IndiGo flight attendant on the international flight from Thailand to India. 

The accused was arrested on Thursday after a complaint by IndiGo Airlines and was produced in the Andheri court on Friday, an official said on Saturday. He was later granted bail and a chargesheet has been filed by the Mumbai police, in Andheri court. The Police further said they have started investigations into the case.

This is the second such unruly passenger incident on a Thailand-India flight in last three months and 8th unruly airline passenger arrested in India, in the past three months, said ANI, quoting officials.

Recently, on March 23, Mumbai's Sahar Police booked two IndiGo flyers travelling from Dubai to Mumbai for allegedly being drunk and misbehaving with the crew. "Two Indigo flyers have been booked under section 336 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) & sections 21,22 and 25 of Aircraft rules for being drunk & misbehaving with the crew. Both were arrested formally but as the sections were bailable, they were granted bail from the police station itself", DCP Dixit Gedam, Mumbai Police told ANI.

Earlier, Shankar Meena, a passenger travelling from New York to Delhi on an Air India flight allegedly urinated on an elderly female passenger seated in business class of the flight. The incident led to an uproar, and various bodies demanded amendment in DGCA rules to deal with unruly passenger behaviour on flights.