Securely Travel Travel Securely
Last week a jury convicted Prabhu Ramamoorthy of “Sexual Abuse” aboard a Spirit Air flight - he sexual assaulted his fellow passenger - meaning the defendant:
- Knowingly engaged in a sexual act with the victim; and
- Ramamoorthy knew the victim was incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct, physically incapable of declining participation in or communicating unwillingness to engage in the sexual act.
NPR tells us that Ramamoorthy is from India, has been living in the U.S. on a work visa and was previously employed as a project manager at a technology group
The Sexual Assault
Ramamoorthy, according to court documents, was traveling with his spouse, on a red-eye from Las Vegas to Detroit on the evening/morning of 02-03 January 2018. Ramamoorthy sat in the middle seat (27E), his wife was in the aisle seat (27D) and the victim was in the window seat( 27F).
The victim told the FBI that she fell asleep leaning against the window. “She woke up to a hand in her pants and noticed her pants and shirt were unbuttoned. She stated that the man next to her (Ramamoorthy) was shoving his fingers into her vagina and vigorously moving them. When she fully woke up, the man stopped. She reported the incident immediately to a flight attendant.”
The flight attendants told the FBI “The victim approached them and stated that a male passenger had sexually assaulted her. The flight attendants reported that the victim appeared visibly upset and was crying while appearing disheveled and “shell shocked.” They confirmed that the victims shirt and pants were unbuttoned.
Ramamoorthy initially denied these actions to the FBI, but later stated, “he ‘might have’ un-done the victims bra and cupped her breasts over he clothes.” and “unzipped her pants part-way and put his finger into her pants.”
Kudos to the Spirit Air flight attendants and the rest of the flight crew to ensure that Ramamoorthy did not slip off the plane, took the allegation seriously, and had requested Wayne County Airport Authority (and the FBI special agent assigned to the Airport Authority) to meet the aircraft.
Now that Ramamoorthy has been found guilty, he faces the prospect of up to life imprisonment and will be deported when he is determined to have completed his prison sentence (to be determined in December 2018).
United States Attorney Matthew Schneider stated, ““Everyone has the right to be secure and safe when they travel on airplanes. We will not tolerate the behavior of anyone who takes advantage of victims who are in a vulnerable position, and we are glad the jury agreed. We appreciate the victim in this case for her courage to speak out.”
Timothy R. Slater, Special Agent in Charge, Detroit Division of the FBI. “The federal conviction of Prabhu Ramamoorthy demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to hold individuals accountable for their actions on an aircraft, especially those who commit such a heinous crime. If you, or someone you know, is the victim of a crime during air travel, immediately notify a flight crew member, airport security police, and the FBI. We remain committed to working with our federal, local, and private industry partners to ensure that anyone traveling by air is afforded a safe environment.”
Sexual Assault aboard flights
As we have noted in the past, sexual assaults aboard flights is, sadly, on the increase. The FBI warned passengers of such when through their campaign advising that such assaults on US aircraft or in US airspace are treated as a Federal Crime.
Indeed, in June 2018, a woman was sexually assaulted on a Jetblue flight from Washington DC to Boston, when Andrew Baker, the adult son of Massachusetts Governor, Charlie Baker was accused of this assault.
FBI Podcast re Inflight Sexual Assault
FBI Suggestions on how to protect yourself from Inflight Sexual Assault
The FBI offers the following precautions which travelers may take to protect themselves.
- Trust your gut. Offenders will often test their victims, sometimes pretending to brush against them to see how they react or if they wake up. “Don’t give them the benefit of the doubt,” Gates said. If such behavior occurs, reprimand the person immediately, and consider asking to be moved to another seat.
- Recognize that mixing alcohol with sleeping pills or other medication on an overnight flight increases your risk. “Don’t knock yourself out with alcohol or drugs,” Gates said.
- If your seatmate is a stranger, no matter how polite he or she may seem, keep the armrest between you down.
- If you are arranging for a child to fly unaccompanied, try to reserve an aisle seat so flight attendants can keep a closer watch on them. Highley has seen victims as young as 8 years old.
- If an incident happens, report it immediately to the flight crew and ask that they record the attacker’s identity and report the incident. “Flight attendants and captains represent authority on the plane,” Gates said. “We don’t want them to be police officers, but they can alert law enforcement, and they can sometimes deal with the problem in the air.” The flight crew can also put the offender on notice, which might prevent further problems.
A reader’s recommendation.
A reader suggested the use of a “sleeping sack” or sleeping bag liner as a means to cocoon oneself on flights on which they intend to sleep. The reader said, “I like the little bit of buffer it provides.”
We did a quick search and found one on Amazon that fit that description.
