Belgian fury over cat scan

Mumbai: A Belgian woman allegedly slapped an airline ground staff when she was asked to check in her two pet cats.
On Friday at 10.30am, Melvin Gerard, 28, assaulted Sujata Neelkanth Patil, 45, a duty officer of Air India. Gerard was booked on Air India's flight IC 147 Mumbai-Jamnagar that was to take-off at 11.30am.
“The cage in which the cats were kept was broken, which would have made it difficult to keep them in the cabin. Patil explained this to Gerard who insisted on taking the cats along with her,” said the official.
When Patil told her firmly that she would not be allowed to take the pets inside and that she needed to check them in, Gerard lost her cool and slapped Patil, the offical added.
Air India officials informed the Central Industrial Security Force, who took her to the Santa Cruz airport police station. During her argument with Patil, Gerard spoke in English, but when the cops started asking her name she feigned that she did not know English.
The cops informed officials of the Belgian embassy in Mumbai, who came to the police station in the afternoon. A non-cognisable offence was lodged against her under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code. She, however, gave a written apology to the airline.
26/07/08 Navita/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India Domestic Jul 2008, Airports Jul 2008, Foreign Jul 2008, NACIL Jul 2008