A 34-year-old man was arrested after a woman passenger alleged that he sexually assaulted her on an overnight flight when she fell asleep next to him. According to reports, the accused man, Prabhu Ramamoorthy, was an Indian national living in the United States on a temporary visa. Ramamoorthy was arrested upon landing at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. He was aboard a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Detroit with his wife occupying the seat next to him.
A 34-year-old man was arrested after a woman passenger alleged that he sexually assaulted her on an overnight flight when she fell asleep next to him. According to reports, the accused man, Prabhu Ramamoorthy, was an Indian national living in the United States on a temporary visa. Ramamoorthy was arrested upon landing at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. He was aboard a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Detroit with his wife occupying the seat next to him.
According to the Detroit Free Press report, the woman has accused Ramamoorthy of putting his hand in her pants and unbuttoning her shirt while she was sleeping against the window. He was made to appear in federal court in Michigan on Thursday.
After he was taken into custody, Ramamoorthy admitted to an FBI agent that he “might have” unhooked the woman’s bra and “cupped her (clothed) breast,” but said he only put a finger in her pants, the federal complaint stated.
Earlier, Ramamoorthy denied all the allegations and claimed he was in “deep sleep” at the time of the incident. He also alleged that the woman had fallen asleep on his knee, and he was unaware of where he had placed his hands.
Ramamoorthy appeared in a U.S. District Court on Wednesday, the Detroit Free Press reported. He had a detention hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. on Thursday, the Detroit News added.
Federal prosecutor Amanda Jawad said that Ramamoorthy sat between his wife and the victim. He stopped after the victim woke up, and the woman went to the back of the plane to report the incident to a flight attendant, the criminal complaint said. reports the Washington Post.
Magistrate Judge Steven Whalen, who said it was a "very unusual case," ordered Ramamoorthy to be held pending trial, reports the Washington Post.
Stephen Schuler, a spokesman for Spirit, said that it was cooperating with law enforcement on the incident.
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