A 35-year-old Indian man has been sentenced to six months in prison in Singapore for molesting and harassing a cabin crew member on a Singapore Airlines flight.
According to a report by The Independent, Akash Tiwari and his four friends were on a flight from Thailand, and they laughed whenever a female flight attendant walked past them.
When the flight attendant came to their seats to ask about their meal preferences, Tiwari stretched his arm and brushed it on her leg, after which his friends started laughing, per court documents.
After the flight attendant reported the matter to the chief stewardess, she was reassigned to another aisle. However, when she was returning after collecting trays from passengers in the other aisle, Tiwari touched her back with his left elbow.
The flight attendant reported the incident again to her senior.
Tiwari denied that he did anything wrong when he was confronted by the flight attendant and her senior. One of his friends laughed at the incident and said that he would have a beer and watch the “show”.
Deputy public prosecutor Lynda said that the complainant was “very upset” and told Tiwari “not to touch her”. Tiwari, however, “smirked” and did not apologise.
“The victim was even more distressed and repeated to him not to touch her,” the prosecutor said.
When the aircraft was preparing to land, the chief stewardess informed her supervisor and the captain about the incident.
Meanwhile, Tiwari followed the flight attendant into the galley and stood extremely close to her, after which she told him to stay away. He kept following her even though she left, which prompted her to issue a warning to him.
“Instead of moving away, the accused persisted with the same threatening behaviour by coming even closer and cornering the victim in the galley,” the prosecutor said.
“The victim was even more distressed by now. She shouted at him to stay away and to stop following her.”
The flight attendant was in tears and was visibly affected. She sought help from her supervisor before Tiwari left her alone.
He was arrested soon after the flight arrived at Singapore’s Changi Airport by the officers from the Airport Police Division. The police have issued a statement and have said that they were alerted about the molestation incident that afternoon itself.
Although the incident happened on February 9, Tiwari, who pleaded guilty to two charges of molestation and one count of harassment, was sentenced to six months of imprisonment on Monday. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, Tiwari was ordered to compensate over Rs 90,000 to the victim.
