Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, May 9
The Government of India took cognizance of the incident where a specially abled child was denied the permission to board a flight from Ranchi to Hyderabad by Indigo airlines on Saturday evening on the ground that he was “uncontrollable and aggressive”.
On Monday, union Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, said that appropriate action post investigation will be taken in the matter.
Scindia, while responding to a tweet by Abhinandan Mishra, a journalist, in which he had highlighted the said incident, said, “There is zero tolerance towards such behaviour. No human being should have to go through this! Investigating the matter by myself, post which appropriate action will be taken.”
Directorate General of Civil Aviation and child rights protection body, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) have also taken cognizance of the incident.
Following a huge uproar on social media over the treatment meted out to the child and the parents, Indigo released a statement on Sunday evening claiming that the specially abled child was not allowed to board the flight with his family “in view of the safety of passengers” as he was in a “state of panic”.
However, this claim has been denied by other passengers who were at the Ranchi Airport to board the same flight.
The father of the 12-year-old-boy, who works in a nationalised bank in Hyderabad, while speaking to the Free Press Journal, said that he and his family members were humiliated by the Indigo staff.
“There is no truth in Indigo’s claims that the child was aggressive. My son had colic pain due to which he was crying, which he stopped after being given Medicine. The Indigo staff however refused to let us board the flight despite repeated requests from other passengers including medical experts who stated that the child was fit to fly. The staff threatened to stop those passengers who were supporting us. My son was never been ‘uncontrollable’ and ‘aggressive’ as Indigo has claimed,” he said.
Indigo later released another statement on Monday afternoon stating that they have reviewed the incident and that their staff made the best possible decision under “difficult circumstances” by not allowing the ‘panicked’ teenager from boarding the flight while using the word ‘commotion’ to describe him.
Indigo also offered an an electric wheelchair to the child, which was rejected by the father of the boy.
