Man Assaults Sleeping Woman on Airplane

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Summary: A woman flying from Las Vegas to Detroit claims she was sexually assaulted after falling asleep on the plane.

A 22-year-old woman awoke in her seat after falling asleep on an overnight flight to a man’s hand inside her pants. The flight was traveling from Las Vegas to Detroit with Spirit Airlines on Wednesday morning.

  

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According to a federal criminal complaint, the male passenger was putting his fingers in her “and vigorously moving them.” The FBI stated that the victim was in the window seat when she dozed off. Agent Kyle Dodge said, “She woke up to a hand in her pants and noticed that her pants and shirt were unbuttoned.”

The woman told agents that the man seated next to her “was shoving his fingers inside her vagina and vigorously moving them. When she fully woke up, the man stopped.” The victim immediately got up and went to the back of the flight to tell the flight attendants about the attack, who reported to federal agents that she was “visibly upset and was crying.” They reported to officials that her shirt was undone and pants unbuttoned. She reported the incident about 40 minutes before the flight landed around 5:30 am.

The flight attendants kept the victim at the back of the plane with them, providing her with another seat. While they talked with the victim and questioned the suspect about what happened, the suspect’s wife came to the back of the plane to find out what was going on.

Once the plane landed in Detroit, the male passenger, Prabhu Ramamoorthy, was taken into custody. The 34-year-old Indian citizen was seated in the middle seat with his wife seated next to him in the aisle seat. Ramamoorthy was living in the United States on a temporary visa, employed as a project manager for a technology firm for over two years.

Initially, Ramamoorthy denied any wrong doing in a written statement. He claimed he had taken a sleeping pill and was unaware of what happened except that his wife told him the woman was sleeping on his knees. Him and his wife claimed they had previously asked the flight attendants to change seats because the woman was sleeping on him but the flight attendants said they received no such request. The reports given to officials by Ramamoorthy and his wife were conflicting. Eventually, Ramamoorthy admitted to agents that he “might have” undone the woman’s bra “while playing with it” and “cupped her breast over her clothes.” The sleeping pill turned out to be just “plain Tylenol.”

Agent Dodge further explained that Ramamoorthy “indicated that he unzipped her pants part-way” and “put his finger into her pants.” He claims he tried to penetrate the victim while she was sleeping with his fingers but his attempt was unsuccessful.”

He has been charged with aggravated sexual abuse. He was booked into the Wayne County jail Wednesday and remained there until his detention hearing Friday in the U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Do you think Ramamoorthy should have his visa revoked? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

To learn more about strange incidents aboard airplanes, read these articles:

• Woman Receives Probation and House Detention for Groping Fellow Airplane Passenger
• Two Lawyers Fighting over Airplane Armrest Caught on Video
• Strangers Engage in Oral Sex in Airplane Seats

Photo: flickr.com