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SINGAPORE: A passenger on a Singapore Airlines flight molested an air stewardess, with his friends laughing in response.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The flight captain reported the incident and a police report was lodged, leading to the man’s arrest when he arrived at Changi Airport.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He pleaded guilty to one count of molestation and one count of causing distress by his threatening behaviour.<\/p>\n
The court heard that Tiwari was on a flight to Singapore in February this year.<\/p>\n
To protect the identity of the victim in line with a gag order, CNA is not revealing other details about the flight.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Before the flight took off, the victim approached the group to confirm their meals.<\/p>\n
When confirming his meal, Tiwari stretched out his arm and brushed against the victim’s upper thigh.<\/p>\n
This shocked the victim, but Tiwari and his friends started laughing.<\/p>\n
The victim told her superior what happened, and was told to serve meals in an aisle away from Tiwari.<\/p>\n
After meals were served, the victim was collecting the trays and pushing the meal cart towards the front of the aircraft.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He nudged his elbow onto the victim’s buttock area, intending to outrage her modesty.<\/p>\n
The victim was shocked and very upset. She told Tiwari not to touch her, but he smirked instead of apologising.<\/p>\n
This caused her to feel even more distressed as she repeated her request for him not to touch her.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The victim reported the molestation to the chief flight stewardess, who accompanied her to confront Tiwari.<\/p>\n
Tiwari remained unapologetic and insisted he did not do anything wrong.<\/p>\n
At the time, the flight captain made an announcement asking the crew to prepare for landing.<\/p>\n
The victim thus left the aisle and went to the galley to report the molestation.<\/p>\n
Tiwari followed the victim into the galley, a narrow and confined space. There was no one else there at the time.<\/p>\n
He walked up and stood extremely close to the victim, distressing her.<\/p>\n
She told him to stay away, but he went even closer to her and cornered her.<\/p>\n
The victim shouted at him to stay away from her and stop following her, immediately heading for an aisle with Tiwari on her tail.<\/p>\n
Passengers in the aisle saw what happened.<\/p>\n
The victim sought help from the chief stewardess again, in tears and visibly frightened with her hands shaking.<\/p>\n
Tiwari finally left her alone and the flight captain reported the case to an aviation and logistics hub at Changi Airport.<\/p>\n
A police report followed.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
For molestation, he could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.<\/p>\n
For using threatening behaviour causing distress, he could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$5,000, or both.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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