Woman accuses Jindal Steel executive of groping, sexual assault on Etihad Airways flight

A woman took to social media platform X to speak up about the sexual harassment she had to face by a senior group executive of Jindal Steel on an Etihad Airways flight from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi.

The woman complained that the executive misbehaved with her, showed her porn clips and even groped her to which MP and Jindal Steel chairman Naveen Jindal reacted and ensured that his team would investigate the matter.

In the post, the woman - who is the co-chair of the India Conference at Harvard, said, “Sharing an incident that happened with me in the flight from Calcutta to Abu Dhabi (transit to Boston). I am very grateful to the staff of Etihad and the Abu Dhabi police for the support they provided me.”

She said that she was sitting “next to an industrialist” who she said was “CEO of Jindal Steel”.

“He must be roughly 65 in age and told me he now lives in Oman but travels frequently. He started chatting me up – very normal conversation about our roots, family, etc. He is from Churu inRajasthan… The conversation moved to what my hobbies are. He asked if I enjoy watching movies and I was like of course. He then proceeds to tell me he has some movie clips on his phone. He whips out his phone and earphones to show me PORN,” the woman said. She further alleged that “he started groping me”.

“I was frozen in shock and scare. I eventually ran off to the washroom and complained to the air staff. Thankfully the Etihad team was very proactive and took action immediately. They made me sit at their seating area and served me tea and fruits,” the woman wrote.

“He kept calling them to ask where I had gone. The staff also informed the cops at Abu Dhabi who were waiting as soon as the gates of the aircraft opened. I could not proceed with a complaint because I would have missed my connecting flight to Boston," she added.

“I was escorted to the next gate to ensure he does not come near me. He also did not deny this when the cops asked him questions,” the woman said.

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“I am sharing this because I want to remind everyone that something like this can happen to anyone. I am working to get this incident out to the founder of Jindal Steel, MP Naveen Jindal, so that he is aware of the kind of people who are in leadership. I am also afraid of how this molester must be treating his female employees from a place of power. I feel violated but I also want to make sure this never happens to another woman," she wrote on social media.

Here's how Naveen Jindal reacted to the woman's post

Reacting to the woman's post, Jindal on Friday (July 19) said, “Thank you for reaching out and speaking up. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did and I want you to know that we have a zero-tolerance policy for such matters. I have asked the team to immediately investigate the matter and thereafter strictest and necessary action will be taken.”

(With inputs from agencies)