A female crew member of Air India was assaulted by an intruder inside her room at a hotel in London where she was staying, the airline said in a statement on Sunday.
The company said that the incident happened at a hotel operated by a major international chain and stated that a police investigation is underway.
According to reports, the assault took place at the Radisson Red Hotel at Heathrow in London and the airline staff had previously raised concerns about safety at the hotel.
A homeless man barged into the room at the hotel where the crew member was staying, news agency PTI reported. As she woke up and noticed the intruder, the man reportedly physically assaulted her. He hit her with a clothes hanger before dragging her on the floor, the reports said.
She screamed for help and tried to run out of the room but was prevented from doing so by the intruder. As per reports, her colleagues heard her cries and came to her rescue.
The crew member was taken to the hospital following the incident. The assailant was arrested.
"We are deeply anguished by an unlawful incident of intrusion at a hotel, operated by a major international chain, that affected one of our crew members," a spokesperson for Air India said.
The airline added, "We are providing all possible support to our colleague and their broader team, including professional counselling. Air India is also working with the local police to pursue the matter to the fullest extent of the law, and with the hotel management to ensure such incidents are not repeated".
The airline has not officially commented on reports suggesting that the crew member may have been sexually assaulted. One of the sources told PTI that she was allegedly sexually assaulted at the hotel, while two other sources claimed it was a physical assault.
Congress leader Manish Tewari, responding to the reports of the assault, called it a "very disturbing" incident and alleged that Air India "deliberately put the cabin crew at risk" by not addressing the safety issues.
"The news report pertaining to the sexual assault on an Air India Crew Member in London is very disturbing. What makes it even more galling is that the cabin crew had been repeatedly complaining about the lack of security in the hotel in London, inadequate lighting and the dark spaces in the London Hotel (sic)," he wrote on X.
The Congress MP further said, "TheTata Companies owned Air India chose to do nothing about it and therefore deliberately put the cabin crew at risk".
Source: India Today