A 34-year-old Indian man US from Tamil Nadu was arrested last week in Michigan for accusing a sleeping US woman on an overnight flight from LA to Detroit. Apparently, the Indian man groped the US woman while his wife was seated on the adjacent seat.
The Tamil Nadu man has been identified as Prabhu Ramamoorthy living in the United States on a temporary visa. He was charged with aggravated sexual abuse and was produced in a Michigan court on Thursday.
Indian man groped sleeping US woman on a flight
Here's what happened. The victim, a 22-year-old woman, told the officials that Ramamoorthy was sitting on a seat between her and his wife. She was sleeping but woke up abruptly to find her shirt and pants unbuttoned.
Ramamoorthy's hands were inside her pants even as his wife was by his side. The furious woman then went to the back of the plane to report the incident to the flight attendant.
The Spirit Airlines flight took off from Las Vegas and landed in Detroit early on January 3. The incident occurred at about 5:30 am in the morning an hour before the flight was supposed to land, say reports.
Image for representational purposes only.
As per the statements given by the flight attendants to the investigators the victim was crying when she reported the incident. This was when Ramamoorthy's wife also came to see what was happening.
Accused told investigators that he "might have" undone the woman's bra
He was landed the moment the plane landed. However, he said that he had taken "plain Tylenol" and had fallen asleep. In fact, he even said that he learned from his wife that the US woman was sleeping on his knees.
He later also said that he “might have” undone the victim’s bra while playing with it. He also said that he "might have" cupped her clothed breast, partly unzipped her pants, and put his finger in her pants, reports the New York Post.
"What makes this offence particularly egregious and the defendant even more of a danger to the community is the fact that it took place on an aeroplane. He was brazen enough to do this basically in public, next to his wife where anyone could have seen him, " Federal prosecutor Amanda Jawad told the media.
This is yet another incident of sexual abuse on flights, which largely go unreported. According to CNN, FBI investigations reveal that midair sexual assaults have increased by 66% from the fiscal year 2014 to 2017.
[Image courtesy: YouTube]
