HUBBALLI: In an incident similar to the Air India peegate, a heavily drunk bus passenger peed on the seat of a woman passenger near Hubballi last Tuesday. However, the incident has come to light only now after the bus driver and conductor informed the KSRTC divisional manager during inquiry.
The KSRTC non-AC sleeper bus (KA 19 F 3594) belonging to the Mangaluru depot, was on its way from Hubballi to Mangaluru and had stopped at the Kiresur dhaba near Hubballi for dinner around 10.30 pm. While all the passengers had disembarked, one passenger who was seated in Seat No. 29, who was heavily drunk, came up to Seat No. 3, and peed on the seat.
A 20-year-old girl, who had occupied the seat, returned to the bus after dinner only to see that the drunk passenger had urinated on her seat. She then informed the bus driver Santhosh Matapathi and conductor Umesh Karadi, who, along with other passengers, took the drunk passenger to task. The driver and conductor then put water on the seat, cleaned it and arranged for the girl to sit in another seat.
The drunk passenger was left behind at the hotel and the bus continued its journey. However, no police complaint was lodged against the drunk passenger, but the bus driver and conductor reported the matter to their higher-ups.