Singapore Airlines passenger jailed for groping stewardess as friends laugh at her

A man who molested a Singapore Airlines stewardess as his friends laughed, then cornered her alone in the aircraft galley, has been jailed for six months in Singapore.

Akash Tiwari, a 35-year-old Indian national, was sentenced on June 22 and ordered to pay the victim S$1,270.95 (US$982) in compensation, The Straits Times reported. He will serve five additional days in jail if he fails to pay.

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

Tiwari was flying with four friends from Bangkok to Singapore on Feb. 9 when the group turned rowdy, waving frantically and laughing whenever a female crew member passed their aisle, court documents cited by Channel News Asia showed.

Before takeoff, the victim approached the group to confirm their meals. As she spoke with one of his friends, Tiwari reached out and brushed her upper thigh. He and his friends laughed.

She reported the incident to the chief stewardess and was reassigned to serve a different aisle.

After meals were served, the victim was pushing a meal cart toward the front of the cabin with her back to Tiwari when he leaned out of his row and nudged his elbow into her buttock.

"She was very upset and told the accused not to touch her. Instead of apologizing, he smirked," Deputy Public Prosecutor Lynda Lee told the court, according to CNA.

The victim and the chief stewardess confronted Tiwari, but he insisted he had done nothing wrong.

Singapore Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at Changi Airport in Singapore, Dec. 8, 2020. Photo by Reuters

As the captain announced the plane's descent, the victim went to the galley to report what had happened. Tiwari followed her into the narrow, empty space and cornered her, the prosecutor said.

She shouted at him to stay away but he only left her alone after she reached the chief stewardess.

The captain alerted SIN Hub, an aviation and logistics center at Changi Airport, and a police report followed. Tiwari was arrested after the plane landed.

Lee sought S$1,270.95 in compensation, comprising S$1,000 for the victim's emotional trauma and S$270.95 for medical costs. She told the court the offending was part of a group dynamic that compounded both its egregiousness and the victim's distress.

Molestation in Singapore carries up to three years' jail, a fine, caning, or a combination of these. Causing distress through threatening behaviour carries up to six months' jail, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.