Man gets jail for molesting Singapore Airlines stewardess while friends laughed

SINGAPORE: A passenger on a Singapore Airlines flight molested an air stewardess, with his friends laughing in response.

When the woman went to report the incident to her supervisor, the culprit followed her into the galley, stood extremely close to her and cornered her.

The flight captain reported the incident and a police report was lodged, leading to the man’s arrest when he arrived at Changi Airport.

Akash Tiwari, a 35-year-old Indian national, was sentenced to six months’ jail on Monday (Jun 22). He was also ordered to pay the victim about S$1,270 (US$982.25) in compensation.

He pleaded guilty to one count of molestation and one count of causing distress by his threatening behaviour.

THE CASE

The court heard that Tiwari was on a flight to Singapore in February this year.

To protect the identity of the victim in line with a gag order, CNA is not revealing other details about the flight.

Tiwari sat with four friends and the group was observed to be rowdy. Whenever female crew walked past their aisle, they would wave frantically and laugh.

Before the flight took off, the victim approached the group to confirm their meals.

When confirming his meal, Tiwari stretched out his arm and brushed against the victim’s upper thigh.

This shocked the victim, but Tiwari and his friends started laughing.

The victim told her superior what happened, and was told to serve meals in an aisle away from Tiwari.

After meals were served, the victim was collecting the trays and pushing the meal cart towards the front of the aircraft.

While the woman pushed the cart with her back facing Tiwari, he deliberately and suddenly leaned out of his aisle and swerved his body towards the victim.

He nudged his elbow onto the victim’s buttock area, intending to outrage her modesty.

The victim was shocked and very upset. She told Tiwari not to touch her, but he smirked instead of apologising.

This caused her to feel even more distressed as she repeated her request for him not to touch her.

Tiwari’s friend, Jay Shankar, burst out laughing. Shankar said he would like to have a beer and watch the “show”, referring to the victim’s reaction at being molested.

The victim reported the molestation to the chief flight stewardess, who accompanied her to confront Tiwari.

Tiwari remained unapologetic and insisted he did not do anything wrong.

At the time, the flight captain made an announcement asking the crew to prepare for landing.

The victim thus left the aisle and went to the galley to report the molestation.

TIWARI TAILS HER

Tiwari followed the victim into the galley, a narrow and confined space. There was no one else there at the time.

He walked up and stood extremely close to the victim, distressing her.

She told him to stay away, but he went even closer to her and cornered her.

The victim shouted at him to stay away from her and stop following her, immediately heading for an aisle with Tiwari on her tail.

Passengers in the aisle saw what happened.

The victim sought help from the chief stewardess again, in tears and visibly frightened with her hands shaking.

Tiwari finally left her alone and the flight captain reported the case to an aviation and logistics hub at Changi Airport.

A police report followed.

The prosecutor sought six months’ jail and S$1,000 in compensation for emotional trauma to the victim, as well as S$270.95 for medical expenses.

She said it was clear that Tiwari’s sexual offending and harassment was part of a group, which would only have added to the overall egregiousness of his conduct and the victim’s distress.

For molestation, he could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.

For using threatening behaviour causing distress, he could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$5,000, or both.

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