A 40-year-old Indian-origin man was charged of sexual assault by a fellow female passenger onboard a transcontinental Air India flight from Mumbai to Newark. Ganesh Parkar, who is from New Jersey, was detained after the woman complained that he groped her when she fell asleep on her seat.
According to the authorities, he allegedly apologised in a couple of notes, admitting that what he did was ‘stupid’.
According to the prosecutors, Parkar was supposed to be in his seat in business class. However, he chose to sit in the middle seat, next to the woman in economy class.
According to the criminal complaint, the woman woke up to find that her blanket had been taken off her body. She readjusted the blanket and fell asleep once more, only to wake up again and find Parkar’s hand inside her shirt, the prosecutors said.
The crew members asked Parkar to move back to his seat after the woman shouted at him, “What the hell are you doing?”. His requests to speak to the woman were repeatedly denied after the incident, post which he wrote the notes, apologising for his actions.
Parkar is now under house arrest after being released with a $50,000 bond.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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