Maharashtra: 32-year-old man arrested for molesting fellow passenger on Pune-Nagpur flight

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A male passenger has been arrested by Maharashtra police for molesting a fellow female passenger during a flight from Pune to Nagpur on Monday.

The accused, identified as Firoz Sheikh Noor Mohammad Sheikh (32), a resident of Durrani Complex, Mithanagar, Kondhwa and an engineer about to get married next month, was traveling for work to an industrial water plant near Nagpur.

The Nagpur police reported that the incident occurred during landing, where Firoz Sheikh initially stared at the 40-year-old woman seated beside him, made inappropriate gestures, and then proceeded to sexually assault her. The victim promptly alerted the flight staff and upon landing at Nagpur airport, she filed a complaint at the Sonegaon police station. The police have charged the accused under Section 354 (outraging a woman's modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), and 509 (insult) of the Indian Penal Code. He was placed under arrest on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Airline, Air Canada grounded a pilot to a Montreal-based B787 for wearing pro-Palestinian colours while in Uniform, The Toronto Sun reported on Tuesday.

As per the Toronto Sun, the action was taken after concerns about the social media posts allegedly containing profane commentary about Israel from the pilot.

"The pilot was taken out of service as of yesterday," reported The Toronto Sun quoting Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick.

"We did this because this individual's opinions and publications on social media do not represent Air Canada's views in any way," said Fitzpatrick. "This person has never been authorized to speak publicly while identifying themselves as an Air Canada employee."

(with inputs from ANI)