Man who created drama onboard discharged due to mental illness

New Delhi, Dec 22: A man, who was accused of molesting and threatening a woman cabin crew onboard a Mumbai-Delhi flight, has been discharged by a Delhi court which said no offence was committed by him as he was suffering from a mental ailment.

The court said it was evident that the accused was suffering from bipolar disorder, a mental condition marked by alternating periods of elation and depression, and was going through its effect at the time of the alleged offence.

It said that the man was liable to get the protection of section 84 (act of a person of unsound mind) of the IPC. "Moreover, the contents of the complaint itself nowhere show that the accused at any time used insulting language or assaulted the complainant with intention to outrage her modesty. "

Hence, in my considered opinion, no offence seems to have been done by the accused as the same was committed while he was not having mental fitness expected of a person of sound mind. Hence, no offence is made out against the accused in the present case.

The accused stands discharged in the case," Metropolitan Magistrate Purva Sareen said. The court discharged him of the alleged offences under sections 354 (outraging modesty of a woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (uttering word and making gesture intended to insult modesty of a woman) of the IPC.

According to the woman's complaint, in November, 2012, she was onboard a flight from Mumbai to Delhi as cabin crew and a passenger complained that he was uncomfortable due to the way accused, a co-passenger, was sitting.

When the woman asked the accused to sit properly, he kept staring at her and also hit her hard on the right ear and started shouting some religious words, the complaint said.

It also said that the man threatened other passengers with dire consequences and endangered the safety of the aircraft.

When the flight landed in Delhi, a complaint was made at Domestic Airport Police Station and an FIR was lodged.

The court noted in its order that, "during mania episodes patients are hyperactive. They have big ideas and become over religious, irritable and may become violent at the smallest provocation. They have delusion of being someone special or big or may feel they have special powers."

It said that after due verification of the documents, the report was filed by the investigation officer according to which the man was was suffering from bipolar disorder for the last 10-12 years and his medical papers were found genuine.

PTI