A 73-year-old man has been charged with sexually assaulting four women during an ultra-long-haul flight from the United States to Singapore aboard the city state’s flag carrier, Singapore Airlines.
Balasubramanian Ramesh, 73, appeared in a Singapore court on Monday, where he was charged with molestation and outraging the decency of one of his victims.
The alleged crimes took place over 14 hours after Ramesh allegedly molested his first victim at around 3:15 am on November 18. The second victim was attacked around five minutes later.
The second victim was subsequently molested three more times between 3:30 am and 6 am. Hours later, at around 9:30 am, Ramesh outraged the decency of his third victim.
It wasn’t until 5:30 pm that evening, however, that Ramesh then allegedly molested his fourth victim.
On arrival in Singapore, the elderly passenger was taken into custody, while witness statements were taken from passengers and crew.
The court has imposed an order blocking the release of details of the victim and it is not known whether Ramesh attacked passengers or the cabin crew.
Local newspaper, the Straits Times, reports that Ramesh is expected to plead guilty when he next appears in court on December 13. The newspaper says that under Singapore’s corporal punishment laws, perpetrators can be caned for sexual offenses, although this would not apply to Ramesh as he is over 50 years old.
The suspect does, however, face the threat of up to three years in jail for each count of molestation, as well as a potential fine
I’m sure the corporal punishment can apply in henious circumstances like this…