A businessman from India has been convicted of raping a teenage girl in the middle of a packed airplane cabin during an eight-hour flight from Mumbai to Zurich in March. Shockingly, the man was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence, following what Swiss International Airlines described as a “tragic incident.”
The crime took place on March 17, aboard Swiss flight LX-155, an overnight service which departed Mumbai at 1:30 am. According to prosecutors, the 15-year-old victim was so traumatized by what was happening that she was unable to fight or cry for help as the attack took place.
According to the official indictment filed by the Zurich Public Prosecutor’s Office, the girl was sitting next to the 44-year-old suspect, an Indian citizen who was traveling to Belgium via a layover in Zurich for meetings.
The girl briefly spoke with the suspect but then tried to get some sleep, only to find that the man put his arm around her. She then covered herself with a blanket and tried to ignore him, but the attack continued.
Prosecutors described how the man started to rub her thigh and then moved his hand onto her intimate areas for several minutes, before reaching inside her underwear and penetrating her with her fingers. He then took the victim’s hand and made her rub his intimate parts over his clothing.
The victim went into a state of shock and was unable to push the man away or immediately call for help.
After the attack finished, however, she eventually mustered the courage to seek help from the cabin crew, who immediately moved her to another seat and monitored the suspect for the rest of the flight.
The police were waiting to meet the aircraft on arrival, and he was immediately taken into custody. Following his conviction, however, the man has since been released.
Along with the one and a half year suspended sentence, the man has also been banned from entering Switzerland for five years.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Swiss said: “Our cabin employees are sensitized and trained to recognize conspicuous situations on board and to act immediately.”
Rape Laws in Switzerland Include Digital Penetration
Until 2024, Switzerland had a very narrow definition of rape and only included forced vaginal intercourse with a woman, accompanied by force, threats, or psychological pressure, which prevented the woman from resisting.
Significant changes were made to Switzerland’s rape laws last year and now include any sexual act involving penetration without consent. The requirement for the sexual assault to be accompanied by force or threats has been removed.
Swiss courts work on the basis that ‘no means no’ and that also includes if a victim is in a state of shock or unconsciousness, that they are unable to consent.
US Law Enforcement Warns of Rise In In-Flight Sexual Assaults
In the United States, federal prosecutors have warned of a ‘disturbing’ rise in in-flight sexual assaults in the last few years.
Mary Ellen Stone, the CEO at the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, says that young women aged between 16 and 19 are most at risk of sexual assault, but many young victims are scared to speak out because they think they might be causing trouble.
“On aircraft, other passengers and crew can disrupt these behaviors,” Stone said. “Crews can take steps to separate the victim from the person causing harm, and above all, avoid minimizing any behavior that is making someone else uncomfortable.”
In the past, some airlines were criticized for their response to reports of in-flight sexual assaults, with victims often saying that they felt the flight attendants weren’t taking them seriously.
In some cases, aircrew would refuse to call the police, and perpetrators were allowed to deplane as if nothing had happened. This then made it much harder for law enforcement to investigate allegations.
Despite these concerns, however, the FBI says victims should feel confident to report a crime, even if they don’t feel comfortable doing so until after they flight is over.
