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London, United Kingdom (UK)
The incident took place on August 19, when she was flying back to London from Amsterdam with her partner as passengers were disembarking the plane. (Representative/File Photo/AP)
A business analyst from Watford, Parul said that a male passenger pushed her out of the way and accused her of trying to cut in front of him
A pregnant woman has claimed she was shoved and assaulted by a fellow passenger on a British Airways flight. Parul Patel, 35, was 11 weeks pregnant at the time. The incident took place on August 19, when she was flying back to London from Amsterdam with her partner as passengers were disembarking the plane. According to Parul, the passenger who shoved her also threatened to “punch her in the face”.
A business analyst from Watford, Parul said that a male passenger pushed her out of the way and accused her of trying to cut in front of him. “Don’t think I won’t punch you in your face,” the passenger said.
“I actually felt like this man was going to hurt me. I felt I was made to be the bad guy and I now feel fearful to confront anyone about anything,” Parul was quoted by Daily Mail as saying.
The situation escalated as the man continued to verbally assault her – making threats and using abusive language.
Parul approached a member of staff who apologised for the man’s behaviour and offered a complimentary bottle of champagne.
“I asked them to call security. I was already in a state of shock, crying so much I could barely speak. I didn’t really understand why she was giving us the bottle? It would make sense if we were talking about bad customer service, but we were dealing with common assault here,” she said.
Parul followed up with the airline about the incident and was offered a £50 voucher.
“Police were contacted about an altercation at Heathrow Airport on 19 August. A woman reported that she had been approached by a man inside the airport following a dispute that had begun on an inbound flight. Officers attended but the man had left the location. Officers spoke to the relevant airline who had no record of the dispute. They also spoke to two independent witnesses who provided information that did not support the woman’s version of events. After assessing all of the information available, a decision was taken not to investigate further. The woman was informed of this. If any further information comes to light, this will be assessed and investigated accordingly,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told the Daily Mail.
