A Brazilian says he was the victim of an attempted violation in the hotel room where he was placed by TAP, after the flight was canceled. It states that the airline had no rooms for all passengers, so three strangers had to spend the night together.
After hours of waiting at Paris airport, the flight to Lisbon was canceled and postponed due to technical problems. Joana – Fictitious Name – went to the TAP counter to find out where she would spend the night, expense almost always assumed by airlines.
The employee will have said that there were no rooms for everyone and so there were only two solutions. “Either we would look for a hotel on our own, or we would share a room. I said no, that I wanted a room just for me, it was my right. But I think, given the tiredness and movement of the whole group, I naively accepted,” says Joana.
With no money to pay a hotel room, he accepted a TAP voucher to a triple room, where the names of the other passengers, a German woman and a Brazilian man were written at hand.
“I was awakened with the man on me”
At night, the other passenger left a note to say that he could not fall asleep and went to the airport. Unknowingly, Joana was closed in a room with a stranger.
“I was woken up around five in the morning with this Brazilian man on top of me, without clothes, kissing me, holding on the bed. It took me a few seconds to understand what was going on. It was when I reacted, screamed, scared, I think it discouraged the man.”
That night he sent an email to TAP to say what had happened and left Paris without complaining to the authorities. In Portugal, he says he filed a complaint to PSP, but it was when he returned to Brazil that he sought legal support. A decision that was postponing not knowing how to deal with what happened.
“I felt very naive, very embarrassed, very dumb to have accepted. I didn’t see that TAP was putting me in a vulnerability situation.”
Case is in the hands of Brazilian justice
Contacted by SIC, TAP says any measure by the company “is subject to the conclusion of investigation and investigation by the competent local authorities.”
The passenger was presented a proposal of about 800 euros because of the cancellation of the flight. Joana was expecting an apology and that responsibilities were determined. The lack of agreement between the passenger and TAP, the case now depends on the Brazilian courts.
