SILCHAR: A youth from Assam’s Cachar district has gone missing after allegedly being slapped by a co-passenger on a Mumbai-Kolkata IndiGo flight, an incident that has sparked outrage on social media. The video of the altercation, which shows Hossain Ahmed Mazumdar being escorted to his seat by flight attendants before being slapped, has raised serious concerns about passenger safety and mental health awareness.Read also: Man slapped during ‘panic attack’ on IndiGo flight found, now on way back home
Hossain, who worked at a gym in Mumbai, was returning home to Katigorah in Cachar district when the incident occurred. The video, which has gone viral, suggests that Hossain may have been experiencing a panic attack at the time. Fellow passengers and airline crew members immediately protested the assault.After the incident, Hossain was supposed to take a connecting flight from Kolkata to Silchar, but he never arrived. His family members, who were waiting for him at Silchar airport, are distressed as his phone remains unreachable and is believed to have been left in Mumbai.
Poll
Should there be mandatory mental health training for airline staff to better handle such incidents?
Zubairul Islam Mazumdar, a relative, expressed frustration over the lack of information, stating, “When we didn’t find him on the Silchar flight, we contacted the local authorities and even went to Udharband police station near the Silchar airport. But we received no concrete information about his whereabouts.”Hossain’s father, Abdul Mannan Mazumdar, who is battling cancer, is devastated. “He was working hard in Mumbai to support us and was returning home. I saw the video this morning and now I don’t know where my son is,” he said.IndiGo authorities said on X, “We are aware of an incident involving a physical altercation on board one of our flights. Such unruly behaviour is completely unacceptable and we strongly condemn any actions that compromise the safety and dignity of our passengers and crew. Our crew acted in accordance with established Standard Operating Procedures. The individual involved was identified as unruly and handed over to the security authorities upon arrival. All appropriate regulatory agencies have been duly informed, in line with protocol. We remain committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment on all our flights.”However there’s no mention whether Hossain was taken into protective custody by airline or airport authorities for medical attention or investigation purposes.
